


never just acting with you

by storiesandthings



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Cross country roadtrip, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Pining, Slow Burn, director iwaizumi is the best, oh what there's only one bed no way, oikawa canNOT sing, they are big dumb but it's okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:49:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 45,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23521855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiesandthings/pseuds/storiesandthings
Summary: "Iwaizumi was infuriated. This idiot across from him just wouldn’t make sense. For no reason, he got angry, stormed away from the game, and then ignored him like it was nothing. He acted like a hypocritical child, and Iwaizumi wanted to kiss him more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life."Iwaizumi is a director for an up and coming play while Oikawa is the lead role. When they get the chance to travel across the country to meet big time producers, what could go wrong?
Relationships: Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 109
Kudos: 201
Collections: best fanfictions my eyes have seen yeah





	1. Arrogant Actor

“Stop, stop, stop. Yachi, we went over this last week. You wait until Oikawa has completely exited stage left, pause for a moment, and then fall to your knees. If you fall too early it doesn’t make sense and leaves the audience confused as to how you’re feeling. Remember, you’re Sarah. You’ve just had your heart broken by the man who was your future. That isn’t the kind of thing you process quickly, and we need everyone who’s watching to be going through the steps with you,” Iwaizumi shouted from his seat at the front of the stage. “We only have three days until opening night, and we need to make sure everything is perfect by then. That means getting down all these little things, okay?”

On stage Yachi nodded vigorously, clutching her hands tightly to her chest. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me. Could we go over the scene once more? I promise I’ll do it correctly this time.”

“No, there’s no need. I know you know what you’re doing, you just needed a reminder. It’ll go better next time.”

“And, as we all saw, my performance was so spectacular, the audience would have been amazed either way.” Oikawa’s voice rang throughout the theater as he strolled onstage. “Right, Iwa-chan?”

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes and began thumbing through his script before replying. “No. Start speeding up the second to last line before your exit, it’s lacking the amount of desperation you need to be showing. And just for that comment, we’re going to run through the scene again. We’ll see if you’re capable of any better.”

Oikawa pouted, an almost comical expression on his tall frame, but complied, positioning himself across from Yachi to restart the scene. As they began Iwaizumi leaned back, narrowing his eyes on the actors in front of him. 

In all honesty, Oikawa had performed perfectly, conveying exactly what he had been asked to do. Every scene that he was in, ever since the first day of rehearsals, he picked up on exactly what Iwaizumi wanted, making slight changes without Iwaizumi even needing to ask. It was one of the reasons he first appealed to Iwaizumi during the preliminary auditions. 

At that time, they had been going through auditions for three days, and Iwaizumi had begun to feel a bit desperate, as they still hadn’t found a good actor for the lead. A few decent candidates had come by, but he was waiting for something else, someone that just clicked. Then, Oikawa came. 

He had waltzed into the audition room, demonstrating none of the nerves that usually accompanied the actors on their first meeting. Instead, he handed over a copy of the monologue to both Iwaizumi and his assistant, Kindaichi, making direct eye contact with him. “Hell, my name is Oikawa. Oikawa Tooru. Is there anything specific you’re looking for with this role? Whatever it is, I’m confident I can deliver,” He had asked, tilting his head slightly with a small smile on his face.

Iwaizumi had met many actors in his career, from the ones who were quiet and shy when off stage to the loud musical ones, but never had he experienced an actor with the overwhelming arrogance he could see in Oikawa’s gaze. He hated to admit it, but a part of him was a little intrigued. It also didn’t hurt that the man before him was stunning, not that Iwaizumi allowed that to truly influence any of his decisions. But it didn’t hurt to look. Oikawa was tall enough that he may have seemed lanky, if it weren’t for the muscles visible even beneath his jacket, and his face was a masterpiece of sharp angles and wide eyes. He was stunning, and it was clear he knew it.

Still, what exactly could cause someone to act this confident, in a situation when their whole job was, frankly, just to be judged? He had seen plenty of beautiful actors in his time, so he knew it couldn’t have been just that. There was something else. Despite the little warning voice in the back of his mind, he leaned forward, maintaining eye contact while resting his head on his hands. “Not particularly. Just… surprise me.”

“Gladly,” Oikawa grinned and stepped back, preparing for his role. He began rolling his shoulders and bouncing on his toes lightly before freezing, his whole body still. After a moment he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. By the time he opened his eyes, blowing air out through his nose, Oikawa was gone. Any hint of that cocky behavior or near blinding grin was replaced by the loss and regret that now swam in his eyes. 

He began his monologue, filling the room with perfectly timed cries and moments of hesitation, all working together to present the image of a destroyed man. His body moved only slightly, yet every raise of an arm or lurch forward conveyed the exact desperation or hope that was needed at the moment. Iwaizumi was unable to tear his eyes away, completely entranced by the performance in front of him. 

When he finally finished Oikawa stood up straight and grinned, transforming back to the charismatic actor that had first entered the room, all with a simple change in posture. “Well, how did I do?”

Iwaizumi looked up, immediately noticing the smirk on his face. With that expression, he realized Oikawa knew exactly what he was going to do with his audition, and exactly how impressed Iwaizumi would be with it. Well, he wasn’t about to be the one to inflate his ego anymore, so he simply nodded curtly at the actor. “Thank you. We will let you know by this Thursday if you will be getting a callback.”

For the first time since the audition began, Oikawa seemed unsure of himself, eyes widening in shock. He recovered quickly, schooling his expression back to a smirk, and inclined his head slightly to Iwaizumi and Kindaichi before strolling back to the exit. “I look forward to Thursday then. Thank you for your time.” And then he was gone.

Somehow, the room felt emptier than it had before Oikawa had arrived. Quiet. Everything was exactly the same, but for Iwaizumi, it suddenly felt wrong.

“Well,” said Kindaichi slowly, “I think he might be our guy.”

Iwaizumi inclined his head slightly, barely moving. “Yeah he is.”

As the director, Iwaizumi had the final say on all casting choices, but he almost always conferred with the producers and assistant director before confirming. He wanted everyone he worked with to be comfortable with his decisions, as they were just as important to the show, but with Oikawa, he knew there wasn’t going to be anyone better. Luckily, Kindaichi agreed with his choice, and they called off the rest of the auditions, recording only a few other names as backups, on the off chance that Oikawa lacked chemistry with Yachi, the female lead. Based on what he had seen, he didn’t think that could end up being an issue, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious. 

When Iwaizumi finally collapsed into bed later that day, exhausted after hours of the remaining auditions, he fell asleep to the thought of Oikawa, and his beautiful, broken face as he performed for them. He told himself it was simply Oikawa’s incredible acting, and the knowledge that he would certainly improve the entire show, but for some reason, he couldn’t shake the memory of that stupid smirk from his mind.

Running a hand through his hair, Iwaizumi forced himself back to the present, focusing on the scene in front of him. Despite Oikawa’s obvious talent, the show still needed quite a lot of work before it would be ready for an audience. The set design crew had done a spectacular job so far, but they were still missing several key props for the second act. 

To make it worse, Yachi was struggling to connect with her character in the way Iwaizumi envisioned. She did a good job responding to Oikawa, but once his presence was gone she seemed to deflate, losing the momentum of the scene. Still, he meant what he had told her earlier. After a few more times running her solo scenes, she would have the character down. For now, she just needed practice.

“I think this run through looks a lot better,” Kindaichi commented, eagerly watching Iwaizumi for signs of approval. “Don’t you agree?”

“Yeah, you’re right. We need what time we have left, but if all goes well, I really think we’ll be ready by opening night.” Iwaizumi flipped the script closed as the scene came to an end, before standing up to talk to the rest of the cast standing in the wings. “Okay guys, I know we’ve had a long day and you all have done a great job so far. I want to run through the family scene once more, as well as the last scene of act two with Oikawa and Yachi, and then everyone is free to go.”

A cheer went up among the cast and they quickly moved into place, eager to finish up. Iwaizumi couldn’t blame them, really. It was already nearing midnight, and they had been rehearsing since well before dinner, so even he was feeling the drain of such a long day. Tthe final scenes went on without any issues, and they were able to finish up quickly. Before leaving, he gathered up his notes and walked on stage to talk to the stage manager, Kenma. 

For the most part, Kenma was quiet and kept to himself, except for his rather boisterous assistant, Kuroo. Regardless of his demeanor, he was excellent at his job. He somehow managed to keep everyone in their positions and moving on cue without ever raising his voice, or even showing a hint of interest in what was going on with the show. 

“We’re still missing some of the parts for the house in scene three. And one of the actors broke a mike while dressing today, so you’re going to need to find a replacement for that,” Kenma said as a way of greeting, glancing up from his phone only briefly before continuing to type.

Iwaizumi sighed, unsurprised. The budget for the show hadn’t been as large as he had hoped, so they were constantly running into equipment issues or lack of materials. They just couldn’t afford backups unless they were absolutely necessary, which usually meant waiting until something broke or when they were missing a piece during construction. “Thank you for letting me know, I’ll figure it out for tomorrow. Also, make sure to let Kuroo know to keep his headset on mute during the actual scenes. I could hear him gambling with one of the actors during the rehearsal, and I don’t want the other assistants thinking that’s okay.”

Kenma simply nodded in response before walking away, raising a hand in farewell as he headed towards the exit. Groaning, Iwaizumi rubbed his eyes, exhausted by everything he still needed to do tonight. In addition to the new issues Kenma mentioned, they had run out of white paint the night before, and one of the actors was sick, so he needed to send her individual notes before the all cast rehearsal the next day. And he had been forced to skip dinner to work with Oikawa and Yachi, a fact his growling stomach refused to let him forget.

“Fancy running into you back here boss, what are the odds,” Oikawa’s voice sounded from behind him, and he spun around, turning to face the approaching figure. An exaggerated look of shock graced Oikawa’s face, and Iwaizumi frowned, shifting on his feet as he approached.

“Not surprising at all, considering we both work here and rehearsal just ended.”

“Now, now, no need to be so literal Iwa-chan, I’m only joking. After all this time you still don’t know how to laugh. It’s so sad, really.” Iwaizumi tensed as Oikawa slung an arm over his shoulder leaning into him slightly. Since the first rehearsal, it was apparent that Oikawa was a friendly person, constantly giving hugs and high fives to the other actors on set. Behavior like that was typical for actors, but what Iwaizumi was unaccustomed to was such behavior being turned towards him. 

Usually, actors were afraid to approach him with any kind of familiarity, despite oftentimes being older than him, but Oikawa never had a problem with that. He was constantly flicking his shoulder or tapping him on the head when they passed each other, anything he could do to try to make Iwaizumi struggle to maintain a sense of professionalism. It never worked. 

Rolling his eyes, he stepped forward, allowing Oikawa’s arm to fall back to his side. “I have no issue laughing when jokes are actually funny.”

Oikawa raised a hand to his chest, staggering back in feigned injury. “You wound me, Iwa-chan! Whoever claimed words can never hurt has clearly never experienced your relentless attack before! I don’t know how much longer I can last under this torment.”

“Go home and then you won’t have to deal with it,” Iwaizumi shot back and began walking to the door, pulling his coat over his arms. Oikawa quickly sped up to follow him, pausing as Iwaizumi reached over to shut off the lights. Once the rehearsal ended, everyone had left quickly, and it only took a glance around the theater to confirm they were the only ones left. Pulling out a set of keys from his pocket, he pushed the door open, gesturing for Oikawa to walk through.

“Oh but there’s no fun in that. I would miss your angry eyes too much if I left right away like the rest of them,” Oikawa drawled, smirking over his shoulder.

Iwaizumi focused his eyes on the door as he followed, suppressing a smile that threatened its way onto his face. Twisting the lock into place he said, “I don’t have angry eyes, that isn’t even a thing. I’m just… passionate about our show becoming the best it can be.”

Oikawa snorted, leaning his arm against the door as Iwaizumi finished messing with the lock. He was having a particularly difficult time getting it to turn, a fact that had everything to do with the old theater they practiced in and absolutely nothing to do with the way Oikawa leaned towards him while he waited, heat practically radiating off him. After what felt like hours, Iwaizumi finally twisted the lock into place and stepped back quickly, his mind clearing with the extra distance between them. Before he could say anything else, his stomach growled loudly and his cheeks reddened slightly.

“Ah, excuse me. I never found time to eat during rehearsal, so,” he trailed off, running a hand through his hair once again. 

Oikawa laughed lightly, pushing off the wall and throwing his hands into his coat pockets. “Yachi and I were the reason you missed dinner, right? So if anything, we should take the blame.”

Iwaizumi nodded, acknowledging Oikawa’s explanation. He spun on his heel, about to walk towards his car parked behind the theater, before pausing slightly. Oikawa had been almost as busy as Iwaizumi, present in the majority of the scenes they worked on tonight, including the one during dinner. It was nearing one in the morning, so most restaurants nearby were closed, and he knew Oikawa walked to the theater most days. He had planned on making a quick run to a late-night convenience store to grab food, but it didn’t seem right to leave Oikawa to fend for himself. Despite what he said, Iwaizumi knew it was his fault that they missed dinner, as he was the one in control of all the rehearsal designations. 

Turning back around, he looked up at Oikawa. “Would you like to—”

A shrill ring came from Oikawa’s pocket and he cursed, pulling out a phone from his pocket. “Sorry, I have to take this really quick. Give me one second.”

Oikawa had lost his smirk when Iwaizumi had begun to speak, an unfamiliar expression on his face, but Iwaizumi only responded with a nod. “It’s okay. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Be on time for once, we’re trying to actually perform well on opening night.”

“Oh I’m always on time, you just can’t find me sometimes,” Oikawa grinned, winking quickly at him before answering his phone. “I’ll be back home soon, don’t worry. No, I don’t need you to pick me up, it’s only a few blocks away.”

Iwaizumi walked away before he could hear anymore, shrugging off the faint feeling of disappointment that remained. Looks like Oikawa had someone who could help get dinner for him. That wasn’t surprising considering his popularity, even just within the cast. He laughed to himself quietly, amused at his foolish thoughts. Even if he didn’t, why would he want to eat with the director? Being alone was better than that, a fact plenty of actors that he had previously worked with loved to talk about when they thought he couldn’t hear.

After a few minutes, he reached his car, unlocking the door with a quick press of a button. It didn’t matter. What mattered was the show and opening night, and how important that would be for his career. Anything else was just a distraction, which he didn’t have time for if he was going to become the best director in the city. Sighing, he started his car, blocking out any thoughts of one particularly snarky and overconfident actor, and focused only on the upcoming show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we are, first chapter down! I’m planning on having more time with some of our other characters in the next chapter, which I’m very excited about. 
> 
> also this is just the beginning, so there isn’t a ton of iwa oikawa action yet, but just wait it’ll get there. for now I hope you like actor oikawa, i love him it just him so well honestly. let me know what you all think!


	2. Just a good director

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the day before opening night, what could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some of you let me know this was marked as a completed work, sorry about that! It is definitely going to be a lot longer than what i have now, but hopefully you enjoy this next one.

The sky was still dark by the time Iwaizumi pulled into the lot, quickly gathering his things before rushing out of the car. Call for the majority of the cast wasn’t until seven, but he always made it a point to arrive early, especially on the last day of rehearsals. It would be chaotic either way— productions always seemed to lose props or costumes the day before showtime— but his early arrival gave him time to fix everything Kenma had discussed with him the night before. Regardless, having an hour or two to himself rarely happened during the week before opening night, considering how he always passed out immediately after arriving at his apartment. 

As he turned the corner to the staff entrance he slowed to a stop, eyes widening at the sight in front of him. Leaning against the door, as if he had been waiting all day, stood Oikawa. At the sound of Iwaizumi’s approach, he looked up and grinned.

“Good morning boss! Wonderful to see you on this beautiful day.” He raised eyes upward, breathing in deeply through his nose. “I can almost smell magic in the air. Can’t you?”

“What are you doing here,” Iwaizumi said, ignoring Oikawa’s question completely. “You’re never at the theater early.”

Oikawa grinned as he approached, moving aside so Iwaizumi could unlock the door. “I could say the same to you. What is a director supposed to do when there’s no one around for him to direct? That defeats the purpose of the job doesn’t it.”

“There’s plenty for me to do, not that an actor like you would know anything about it. Either way, you didn’t answer my question.” Walking into the theatre, Iwaizumi glanced over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes as Oikawa followed. “Why are you here?”

Sighing, the grin slipped from his face. “I always get a small case of nerves the day before the show, so I wanted some time by myself before everyone else shows up. Not that there’s any need to be concerned,” He flung his arm to the side dramatically, “All great actors, like myself, react like this. Anyways it makes me look good in front of my boss.”

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, giving Oikawa a quick shove before walking over to his office. He barely heard Oikawa’s indignant cry behind him, preoccupied with his thoughts. In all the time he had known him, Oikawa had never shown a hint of insecurity in his actions. He was always the one cracking jokes and messing around with the other actors. When someone was worried about their performance, they would go to Oikawa first, even before consulting Iwaizumi. Maybe that was why he had never seen such emotion with Oikawa— who could he turn to when he was the one everyone always sought out?

Throwing his coat onto the back of the door, Iwaizumi pulled out his laptop to check his email, responding to the countless messages that had built up overnight. As he began scrolling, Oikawa flopped down onto the sofa in the corner of the room. Iwaizumi saw no need for any kind of furniture in his office, besides a small desk and a chair for his work, but he never found the time to remove it. 

Now, he mainly used it for storage of his daily notes and reminders, several pages of which Oikawa had taken upon himself to look through. Iwaizumi could hear as he flipped through them, sighing dramatically every so often. Attempting to ignore him, Iwaizumi continued to scroll through his emails, before hearing a particular drawn-out sigh.

“What do you want,” Iwaizumi growled, spinning in his chair to face Oikawa.

“Nothing really, I’m merely curious where the notes are about me,” Oikawa said, flipping around the page he was holding for Iwaizumi to see. “I see everyone else’s name on this script, but I can’t find mine anywhere. My name should be in here the most, but it’s not. I expected an ‘Oikawa is so great,’ or ‘wow Oikawa has great hair.’ Even just my name with hearts around it would do.”

Iwaizumi snatched the page out of his hand, an unwelcome blush creeping up his neck. “These are just notes for what actors need to work on from rehearsal last week. It doesn’t mean anything that you’re not on it, get over yourself.”

“Awwww, you say the nicest things to me Iwa-chan,” Oikawa crooned and began looking at more of the notes. “What about this one?” He asked, holding up a new sheet. “This one doesn’t have mine name on it either, and all these other ones don’t—”

“Okay get out,” Iwaizumi interrupted, grabbing Oikawa by the shirt and pulling him to his feet. “I have plenty of emails to reply to before everyone gets here, and you still need to practice on your own, so go somewhere else to do it.” Before he could respond, he shoved Oikawa out the door, slamming it shut behind him. 

The last thing he wanted to do was come up with a half-assed explanation for why Oikawa’s name wasn’t on any of the notes, and he did need to get some work done. Also, Oikawa’s overly cheerful smile in the morning was too much for early morning Iwaizumi to handle, and he hadn’t even had time to grab a coffee before he arrived. Quickly he sent a text to Kindaichi, asking him to grab a cup for him before he came to rehearsal.

An hour passed by quickly, and before he knew it he could hear the groans and complaints of the cast arriving. Briefly, he wondered where Oikawa had gone off to after he kicked him out, but pushed it out of his mind when Kindaichi shoved the door open, coffee in hand. 

“Sorry I didn’t bring it earlier!” He cried, handing over the coffee. “I didn’t see your text at first, and the drive-through was super crowded this morning, but I got here as quickly as I could.”

Kindaichi’s whole body was tense in front of him, almost shaking in worry over how Iwaizumi would react. This was his first show as an assistant, and his nerves had gotten increasingly worse as they approached opening night, so Iwaizumi moved to reassure him. “Don’t worry about it,” he said, and Kindaichi seemed to relax slightly. “You weren’t even late, I just decided to arrive early today. You’re doing great.”

“Thanks, Iwaizumi! Also, most of the actors have arrived by now, so if you want I could get them started on costumes while you talk to the crew about the placement of the tree in the final scene. Only if that works with you, we could switch roles if you like or work on something completely different, I don’t actually care, whatever you like.”

“That sounds good, and Kindaichi,” Iwaizumi paused, making eye contact with him before continuing, “calm down. Today is going to be fine. It’s just another day of rehearsal, there’s no need to freak out.”

He nodded vigorously, “Of course! I’ll do my best,” and sped off towards the dressing rooms. Iwaizumi sighed. There was no way Kindaichi would listen, but he had to at least try. He could still remember when he was just an assistant, and he had been the same way, nervous over every decision he made. Now it was no issue, but he still understood what Kindaichi was going through. Anything Iwaizumi could do to make his first time directing as easy as possible, he would.

After a quick conference with the crew, they began running through the show from the top, with Iwaizumi watching from the booth in the back of the theatre. The past two days consisted of continuous work, barely pausing to eat, and it showed. Everyone was moving perfectly, responding to each other with more energy than any rehearsal before. He could see the vision he had imagined at the beginning of production finally coming together. Still, the true test would be performing in front of an audience, as hundreds of watching eyes can bring the best, or worst, out of any actor. 

They went through the entire show before lunch, when he dismissed the cast to change out of their costumes before eating. He began walking towards his office, where he usually spent his lunches, before a man came running over to him.

“Bossman, come eat with us! I haven’t had a good talk with you for weeks, you have to join,” He cried, bouncing over to where Iwaizumi stood. Nishinoya was a short man, several inches below Iwaizumi, but he was constantly moving, imbued with enough energy to make up for any lack in height. They had met a few years ago, when Iwaizumi had cast him in another one of his shows, and quickly became friends.

His upbeat and energetic personality made him the perfect person to spend time with on set, especially during such a stressful time. Funnily enough, the way Noya acted in real life was completely at odds with the villain he played on stage, but his ability to make such a drastic change truly attested to his abilities as an actor, which is why Iwaizumi had cast him again.

“You’re right, it has been a while. Just let me grab my bag and I’ll meet you in the conference room,” Iwaizumi said, smiling at him slightly.

Noya nodded happily before bounding back over to the dressing rooms. Iwaizumi didn’t understand how Noya managed to be so calm and collected all the time, especially when even Oikawa was on edge, but he seemed perfectly content. 

Strolling towards his office, he pulled out the lunch he had quickly packed that morning, before heading over to the conference room. Well, they called it a conference room, but in reality, it was just an old dressing room with a long table shoved in it. It wasn’t much, but it worked. When he arrived, only Noya and Yachi were in the room, so he sank into a seat across from them. 

“You would not believe what Anya did,” Noya was saying, Yachi hanging onto his every word. “She found out that Oli was cheating, and kicked him right out, then and there. She threw his clothes out the window and didn’t even bother packing them up in a suitcase or anything. Badass right?”

“Uh-huh, I could never have the guts to do that,” Yachi said, eyes wide as if imagining herself in such a situation.

“Don’t worry, we’d help you out if you ever had to deal with a scumbag like that. Right Iwaizumi?” 

Iwaizumi pulled out his lunch, nodding in agreement. “Of course, they wouldn’t stand a chance against us.”

“Are we fighting someone? Whoever it is, count me in,” Kuroo said as he walked into the room, Kenma next to him.

“Don’t count me in. I won’t help,” Kenma said, eyes remaining on his phone as he sat down to the left of Iwaizumi.

“That’s okay. I mean, just look at me. I can fight enough for the both of us, this guy won’t even stand a chance,” Kuroo joked. Although Kuroo was Kenma’s assistant, to anyone who didn’t know them it seemed like the other way around. Kuroo was outgoing and willing to talk to anyone, giving him the appearance of authority. Still, Kenma was excellent at his job even without being as talkative, and Kuroo seemed happy working for him. Also, he was prone to inappropriate comments in the workplace, so being an assistant worked out best for him. “Who are we fighting again?”

“Just Yachi’s cheating lover,” Noya said, biting down onto a sandwich before continuing, his mouth full. “Don’t worry, they haven’t done anything yet, but we’re getting prepared anyways.”

Kuroo’s face dropped in disappointment. “Damn, you got me all excited! I haven’t fought anyone in ages, I’m itching for a fight.”

Kenma rolled his eyes, “You’ve never fought anyone before. You’re too nice.”

“Am not! I could take someone, easy.”

“Not true. You’re too much of a nerd.”

Immediately, Kuroo began defending himself, and the two began arguing loudly. Well, Kuroo was arguing loudly. Kenma only responded quietly, barely giving him the time of day. Iwaizumi smiled to himself as everyone around him picked up their conversations again. He often forgot it when things were crazy, but he truly enjoyed his whole team and would miss them once the show was over. Luckily, they had several weeks of performances ahead of them, so there was no need to get sad just yet.

Only a few others trickled into the room after him, a phenomenon most likely due to Iwaizumi’s presence. He tried to be as casual as possible in front of most of the cast, but a lot of them never got over the fact that he was the director and their boss. Still, he wasn’t complaining, as it just gave more room for him and his friends to spend their break together. Opening his lunch, he began eating, before noticing Oikawa sitting off to the side at a chair away from the table.

That was odd. They had never eaten together, but Iwaizumi had seen him enough during lunch to know that he always sat in the middle of everyone when they were eating. He would make jokes and create fake performances, doing anything to make everyone laugh, the self-centered idiot. But now he was alone, flipping through the script by himself. Iwaizumi ignored him at first, focusing on the elaborate story Noya was telling about his boyfriend, Asahi, but for some reason, his eyes kept trailing back to Oikawa.

Finally, he couldn’t take it any longer. He shoved off his desk, prowling over to Oikawa in the corner. He raised his head at the approach, flashing his typical blinding smile. “Why Iwaizumi, how great to—” Iwaizumi hit him in the shoulder before he could finish and he yelped, rubbing his arm defensively. “What the hell was that for? Last I checked I didn’t do anything to you, there’s no need to hit me.”

“Where’s your lunch,” Iwaizumi scolded. “We’ve already been here for hours and I’m sure you didn’t eat breakfast. You need to eat.”

Oikawa broke his gaze, glancing back over to his script. “There’s no need, I really should focus on my script. Yachi and I keep getting stuck on this one part.”

“I don’t give a shit.” Iwaizumi walked back to the table to grab his lunch and shoved it into Oikawa’s hands. “You know that script back to front, and you need to keep up your energy for the show. Eat.”

“Iwa-chan, I didn’t realize you cared so much about me. How sweet. But I’m not going to eat that, it’s your lunch,” Oikawa scoffed, attempting to hand it back over, “You’re supposed to be eating it.”

Iwaizumi stepped back, refusing to take it. “I’ve already eaten half, so get over yourself. And I don’t, I’m just not about to have my lead pass out on stage because he was too much of an idiot to eat his lunch. So hurry up and finish so we can go work on that scene with Yachi before the break is over.”

“Fine, I’ll take it. But don’t expect a thank you, you’re not going to get one.”

“I never asked you to. Now hurry up and go to the stage, you can eat while we get ready,” Iwaizumi said, moving aside for Oikawa to pass.

Oikawa only nodded and began eating as he stood, making his way to the door. Iwaizumi moved back to the table, sitting down briefly to gather the rest of his things. It drove him crazy, the way Oikawa seemed to care so much about the show, but completely forgot about himself in the process. That was a surefire way to screw up his performance enough that the whole show suffered, which he knew Oikawa was aware of. Still, for some reason, he just didn’t care, and Iwaizumi, for the life of him, couldn’t figure out why.

As he finished gathering his things, he noticed his friends had grown quiet and looked up to see Noya’s face grinning at him. “What?” Iwaizumi snapped, placing his papers into his bag and throwing it over his shoulder.

“Oh, nothing, nothing. I’ve just never seen you get so worked up over an actor before, that’s all,” Noya responded innocently, his massive grin refusing to slip from his face. “You must care about Oikawa, I guess.”

“You know it’s not like that. Just like I told him, I can’t have my lead falling apart in the middle of rehearsal, that would be bad for the whole show. Don’t make it into something it’s not.” Iwaizumi walked to the door as conversation resumed, waving goodbye to Yachi, Kenma, and Kuroo as he left the room. That wasn’t weird, was it? It was simply a director taking good care of his actors, that was what was important. He shoved Noya’s words to the back of his mind. Just being a good director. That was all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was mainly fun, and introducing some more of our characters. Basically my content is iwaizumi interrupting oikawa and being a mom, and im not even mad about it??? next chapter is going to have a lot more going on, so get ready. Also Kenma is my fave i love how he gives zero shits about everything all the time.


	3. opening night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> opening night for the show final arrives, and the cast celebrates afterwards!

Opening night. Finally. Iwaizumi had directed countless shows at this point in his career, but the chills and excitement brought by opening night never stopped. The entire crew was bustling around like crazy, making last-minute preparations and looking for lost props. Kenma was even more quiet than usual, but off his phone, choosing to spend most of his time sending Kuroo to yell at various crew members that had forgotten to do what he asked. Everyone in the ensemble that he ran into was affected, almost bouncing off the wall with the energy they had. There was still an hour before audience members started arriving, but that time would be gone before they knew it.

Just before everything had gotten hectic, Iwaizumi pulled Kindaichi to the side, asking him to gather the whole cast onto the stage. He stood just behind the curtain, waiting as everyone slowly trickled in, frantically adding final touches to their makeup and finding missing costume pieces. After ten minutes, everyone stood gathered in front of him, chattering amongst themselves. With a small cough and clearing of his throat, everyone quieted, turning their attention towards him.

“Now, I’m not one for big speeches, as you all know, so I’ll make this quick. Everyone here has worked their asses off on this production, and I couldn’t be prouder of the work you all have done. Rehearsals have been long and exhausting for the past few weeks, but every single one of you has brought your A-game each time. Everything we’ve done has been for this day, this show, in front of this audience. I know you all are excited and nervous and everything in between, but let’s do everything we can to make this a success.”

“Alright boss!” Noya yelled, and others quickly joined in, cheering with their excitement. He scanned the crowd, his nerves quickly dropping away in the face of their exhilarated expressions. Each one of them had been hand-picked, and he had been able to watch all of them grow so much throughout their time together. No matter how the show went, he knew that he would be proud of all of them for everything they had done to this point.

Reaching the middle of the crowd, he locked eyes with a grinning Oikawa, who began to clap, getting the whole cast going with him. Iwaizumi waved them off, ordering them back to their dressing rooms to finish getting ready, but couldn’t stop a small smile creeping onto his face. As everyone clambered back to the dressing rooms he went over to Kenma and Kuroo, making sure they didn’t need anything from him. The last hour flew by, and he found himself up in the booth, looking down at the giant crowd below him.

“Final places everyone. Make sure stage right has the house wall propped in the back so it doesn’t fall over, that would be hell. Stage left, make sure Oikawa and Yachi are in their positions, curtain up in two minutes,” Iwaizumi said into his headset, chest tightening at the sight. He sat in the booth with Kenma and a few other members of the crew who were working lights and sound, watching the theater. Each seat was filled, hundreds of individuals piled in the theater to watch the show. In his heart, he knew they weren’t here for him, but this show was his baby, and he wanted everyone to enjoy it as much as he did.

A deep voice came over the sound system as the lights began to dim. “Welcome all to opening night. Please take a moment to recognize all exits to the theatre, four of which are located behind you. We ask that you turn off all cell phones for the duration of the show and please no cameras or photos during the show. Without further ado, let us present… The Kingdom of Night!”

With that final note, the lights completely turned off, and the curtain began to rise. The spotlights turned on, focused on Oikawa’s motionless form as he faced away from the audience. The show had begun.

From the moment the actors began, Iwaizumi could tell that all the late nights, skipped meals, and missed events were worth it. Everyone on stage was performing better than he had ever seen— yet for some reason, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Oikawa. It was like his audition all over again. Iwaizumi knew he was talented, he’d chosen him for a reason, but somehow he was better than ever before. Maybe it was the costume, maybe the audience, or maybe just that they had rehearsed so long for this moment, but he transformed under the spotlight.

Each time he spoke, his deep voice entranced the audience, a feat that Iwaizumi knew would have been possible with or without the microphone he had on. It was sweet and alluring, dripping with the haunting energy that embodied the Prince he played. When he moved across the stage his body was as fluid as a dancer, his long limbs painting a picture of power and deceit that everyone who watched couldn’t help but believe. His face filled with emotion, eyes betraying none of the light grins that were typical of Oikawa. No, tonight he was only the Prince, seducing the innocent princess and leaving her with only pieces of a heart left.

Still, Iwaizumi couldn’t help but be most impressed by the way the other actors around him reacted to his movements. The way he delivered his lines, tilted his body ever so slightly to face them, and expressed each emotion, he brought out the exact responses necessary by those on stage with him. He was like the sun, shining brighter than anyone else on stage, but lit up everyone around him just the same. Everyone was performing better than he had ever seen, and he knew part of it was due to Oikawa, even if they didn’t realize it.

In what felt like seconds, the show was over. As the cast came out for bows, the audience clapped enthusiastically, as amazed as he was by the performance. Finally, Oikawa and Yachi came on stage and the crowd went wild, standing up and cheering with more energy than they had given to the rest of the cast. Oikawa basked in the praise while maintaining his character’s persona, simply raising his head in recognition with a smirk on his face. They ate it up and continued clapping long after the cast had finished bows, exiting through the side of the stage.

Kindaichi turned, both hands raised for a high five, and Iwaizumi accepted, unable to keep a wild grin off his face. This wasn’t his first show, and it wouldn’t be his last, but there was something special about it. He was involved in every step of the way, in control of every decision, and it was the first time on such a big stage. It couldn’t have gone better.

Hours later, Iwaizumi, Noya, and Asahi, his boyfriend, entered the bar where the theatre company had decided to host their opening night party. The room was already packed, filled with every cast and crew member, as well as any guests they had brought along. 

“I just don’t see why I needed to come,” Iwaizumi grumbled, shoving an extremely inebriated ensemble member away from him. “I was perfectly content going home and going to bed tonight. This was supposed to be my first night sleeping at a reasonable hour in the past three weeks. Instead, I get to spend it with a bunch of cast members who are afraid to talk to me.”

“Of course you had to come!” Noya cried, practically skipping as they made their way into the bar. “Kenma already told me he wouldn’t come, so you couldn’t have made us come alone. Anyways, no one will be afraid to talk to you, we’re here to celebrate everything you helped to make happen! And you wouldn’t have gotten to see Asahi!”

Asahi smiled over to him. “It’s true, we haven’t seen each other in ages. You really should come over for dinner sometime, since I’m not the biggest fan of these functions either.”

It was true, they hadn’t seen each other much since the previous show they worked on together. Iwaizumi liked both Noya and Asahi, but most nights he was out late, either working on a show or making plans on an upcoming project. Such a busy schedule wasn’t intentional, and he technically could take more days off, but wasting time just didn’t sit right with him. Still, he should make more of an effort. “That sounds great, I’d love to try your cooking. Noya over here raves about it constantly.”

Asahi blushed at the compliment. “Of course I do, I can almost taste it now,” Noya stared off into the distance dreamily before focusing again, giving them a thumbs up. “But that’s nothing a hefty amount of alcohol can’t fix!”

He started over to the bar, dragging a reluctant Asahi behind him, with Iwaizumi following closely behind. Drinking had never been his thing, but since he was stuck coming to this thing, he might as well. Waving over the bartender he ordered a simple bourbon, while Noya got three shots sent over. Iwaizumi eyed him dubiously. “You’re not going to convince me to take shots with you, you know. Coming here was enough as it is.”

Noya only grinned as the bartender approached with his shots, and Asahi shook his head. “Don’t worry, they’re all for him, the drunk idiot. He likes to do this after every opening night because he hates me, apparently, and wants me to babysit him all night.”

“I could never hate you! I simply like to celebrate all our hard work. There’s nothing wrong with that” Noya cried. “And I’ve never heard you complain as you take advantage of this drunk idiot when we get back home.”

“Noya! Don’t say things like that!” Noya merely smiled, leaning over to kiss a blushing Asahi.

Iwaizumi smiled at Asahi’s discomfort, before looking around the bar. There were more unfamiliar faces than he expected, a mix of friends and significant others of the cast and crew, as well as a fair amount of critics and producers from other shows. He raised his eyes, noticing more and more as he looked around. The show had been getting a lot of press, he knew that, but it had spread further than he realized. Of course, he wasn’t complaining. More people seeing his show meant more exposure, which meant bigger shows to work on. Exactly what he wanted.

“What do you say, boss man, you wanna dance with us?” Noya asked, eyes shining as he looked over, sliding the three empty shot glasses down the bar. Asahi stood next to him, looking around nervously at the energetic group of people dancing in the middle of the floor.

Iwaizumi shook his head, waving them on. “No, dancing isn’t my thing. You guys have fun.”

Asahi shot him a pleading look as Noya shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, but you’re not allowed to leave as soon as we’re gone. I’m requiring you to have fun for at least an hour before heading out,” he said, pointing a finger at Iwaizumi with an outstretched arm.

“I don’t know about that,” Iwaizumi muttered as they disappeared, Noya dragging an embarrassed Asahi over to the floor. He continued to look around the bar, before realizing he was looking for someone. Oikawa. Being the lead, it would make sense for him to be in the middle of things, more enthusiastic than anyone, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Before he could think of it any further, a few cast members approached him, thanking and congratulating him on the show. Thus began the cycle of “thank you for everything you did for the show,” and “congratulations on tonight!” Most of the time the cast and crew stayed away from him with personal matters, but after every show this sequence was unavoidable. They meant well, so Iwaizumi thanked them all politely, but it wasn’t much of a conversation. After what felt like hours of the same interaction, Iwaizumi prepared to leave before Oikawa burst through the crowd in front of him.

“Hello everyone, if I could get your attention. Yes, even you lot dancing over there.” All heads turned to him, jerked out of their conversations and dancing by his loud voice. “I just want to say thank you to everyone, and give a big congratulations on the amazing show tonight! I’d call the opening night a resounding success, deserving of the best revelry we have to offer.”

He pulled his hands out from behind his back, revealing a fresh bottle of champagne. With a loud pop, the cork burst towards the ceiling and the bar erupted in cheers and shouts. Oikawa grinned, brushing a perfect curl from his face as several cast members approached him. Waving his hands animatedly, he seemed to glow under the adoring attention.

Iwaizumi snorted. Typical. Of course, Oikawa would arrive late and make a huge scene, directing all the attention to himself. He was right, there was something different about Oikawa from all the other actors he knew. Somehow, he managed to transcend arrogance, and achieve a whole new level— it was like he invented it. Still, Iwaizumi saw something off about his grin. He couldn’t help but think of him on stage, enchanting the princess with that same smile.

Downing his glass, he pulled out his phone to text Asahi and Noya that he was leaving. He hadn’t seen them since they first arrived, so he figured they wouldn’t mind. If he knew Noya, he had probably dragged Asahi into the bathroom or some other dark corner once the alcohol hit.

“Why does it look like you’re about to flee?” Oikawa said, approaching him with the bottle raised. “I just opened a bottle of champagne, and it wouldn’t be right if the director simply left before trying some.”

It may have been the energy from opening night, or perhaps the glasses of bourbon he had already drunk, but something caused him to step forward, leaning close to Oikawa before ripping the bottle from his hand. “Maybe if you had shown up with this at a reasonable time, wouldn’t be.” He raised the champagne to his lips, taking a swig straight from the bottle with eyes locked onto Oikawa, before handing it back over. “There. I had some. Happy?”

With a jolt, Iwaizumi saw the tired look on Oikawa’s face fade into something else entirely, almost hungry. “Not quite. Maybe you should stay, have some more. As you said, I only just got here.” He leaned towards Iwaizumi, taunting with a slight tilt to his head, before stepping back. Spinning in a circle, he raised a hand in Iwaizumi’s direction. “That means the party has only just begun. You should dance.”

“I think I’ll pass,” Iwaizumi said, stepping around him towards the exit. Before he could make it any further, Oikawa grabbed onto his wrist, pulling him back in his direction. 

“Iwa-chan, stay. I promise you’ll have a good time.” The glint in Oikawa’s eyes as he spoke was enough to make him pause, considering the offer. On one hand, partying wasn’t his thing, and he genuinely was tired from the past week. On the other, he couldn’t help but be excited by that look as Oikawa stared down at him, challenging him to stay. Iwaizumi didn’t like to lose.

He opened his mouth but was saved from answering by an unfamiliar voice cutting between them. “Excuse me, are you Iwaizumi Hajime? And Oikawa Tooru?”

Iwaizumi pulled his hand free, turning to the man in front of him. He wore a neatly tailored blazer over a crisp blue shirt unbuttoned at the collar and his shoes shone as if they were freshly washed. From his neatly styled dark brown hair to everything he wore, the man screamed money and influence, yet Iwaizumi had never seen him in the theatre community before. “Yes, that’s us. How can we help you?”

“Great, I thought so.” He smiled, and Iwaizumi was surprised by the kindness clear in his face. “My name is Daichi Sawamura, feel free to call me Daichi. I’m friends with Noya. I was in town on business for a few days, so I decided to come to see the show tonight.”

So he was a fan. Iwaizumi never dealt with many fans, considering his position left him mostly behind the scenes, but Oikawa was familiar with the procedure. Plastering on his typical polite smile, he reached out to shake the newcomer's hand. “Thanks for coming. I’m sure you enjoyed the performance, it was quite spectacular tonight.”

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes at Oikawa’s arrogance, but Daichi only nodded in agreement. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you two about. I enjoyed everything I saw, especially from you, Oikawa, and the way this show was done was spectacular. Just last year I saw the same production over in London, but I think you took it a lot further with your directing, Iwaizumi.”

He took a quick breath, gauging their reactions, before continuing. “The reason I’m bringing it up is that I’m a talent scout from Los Angeles. I’m currently working with a film production company back home, and I think both of you could have a place there. One of the movies is starting casting soon and I believe you, Oikawa, would be perfect for the role.” He turned to Iwaizumi. “And a good friend of mine over there is looking for a great director to help jumpstart his musical adaptation, and I think you could help him out.”

For a moment, even Oikawa was struck speechless. “What exactly are you saying?”

Daichi smiled towards both of them. “I want you to come to Hollywood.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhh daichi really just had to come right in the middle of all that tension. but now we finally get to the exciting part! i hope you guys liked oikawa acting, i feel like it fits him so perfectly and i absolutely love writing him on stage, so maybe we’ll get some more of that later. also noya and asahi???? i love them?? i will continue to include all of my faves, i know y’all came here for iwaoi content, there will be plenty of that still, i just can’t help it. anyways lmk what you guys think, i’d love to hear it


	4. missing your chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daichi explains his offer to Oikawa and Iwaizumi. They have the weekend to decide, but will they both go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy easter, if you celebrate, if not happy sunday! this is basically discount reese’s eggs day for me, if only quarantine wasn’t going on. 
> 
> i hope you like the chapter, it’s one of my favorites so far!

“Now I know neither of you has much experience with film, but I believe this could be a great opportunity for both of you,” Daichi paused at their shocked expressions before plowing on. “Oikawa, I’m not sure if you have much experience with acting on film as opposed to theatre, and I’m aware it’s quite a different situation. Still, films are what you need to take a step to the next level. From what I saw at the show tonight, your talent is already there, and this job will give you the start you need to make it further in the industry.

“And, Iwaizumi. We only just met, so I don’t know about your interest level with the film industry, but this could help give you a taste of what it’s like. The director has focused mainly on film and wanted a theatre director to help him adapt something that was originally theatre into something old and new fans would enjoy. You could help with that. And, if you end up liking what you see about the film production, it could give you a good baseline for the industry.”

Daichi looked at them expectantly, but all Iwaizumi could do was stare. Film directing? He had always been interested in the idea, ever since college, but no opportunities jumped out to him the way they had in the theatre business. At this point, he hadn’t had experience with film in years, but it was an interesting thought. The film industry is the next step for anyone trying to make it in entertainment. Still, theatre was where he was comfortable. What could he even do in film?

“How do we know you’re telling the truth? You say you know Noya, but for all we know you could be anyone,” Oikawa asked, keeping his voice light.

Daichi laughed, a hearty sound that didn’t quite fit his intimidating exterior. “That’s a good point, I can give him a call if you want,” he said, reaching down into his coat pocket before pausing. “Never mind, here’s someone else I know. Kenma!”

He waved behind them, and Iwaizumi spun around. Kenma stood near the dance floor, scrolling on his phone, while Kuroo danced nearby. They both turned to the sound of Daichi’s call, and before Kenma could flee, Kuroo waved back excitedly, dragging Kenma behind him. “Daichi, how are you? I haven’t seen you since,” he scratched his head, considering, “the end of college, I think. What are you doing here?”

“I’m in town visiting Noya, so I came to see the show. That’s how I met these two,” he jabbed a thumb in Oikawa and Iwaizumi’s direction. “I can’t believe you all ended up here, it’s crazy! Guess we were the odd ones out.”

“Yeah you missed out,” Kuroo said, throwing his arm over Daichi’s shoulder. He attempted to do the same to Kenma, but he shoved Kuroo away as soon as he got close, looking over to Iwaizumi.

“We all used to play in a volleyball league together in college. Noya too. I guess it just worked out with us all ending up in the entertainment industry,” Kenma explained, repeatedly dodging Kuroo’s attempts to latch on to his shoulders. “Did he tell you about his hotshot Hollywood job?”

“How did you know about that?” Daichi followed Kenma’s lead, shoving off Kuroo as he spoke.

Kenma looked almost offended at the question. “I know how to use the internet you know. Suga posts about everyone constantly, it would be impossible to miss.”

“So I think it’s safe to assume you aren’t a liar then,” Oikawa interrupted, drawing Daichi’s attention back to them. 

“Yes, my offer was sincere.” He laughed before glancing down to his watch quickly. "I’m sorry, I know it's early, but I have to head out. There's another friend I planned to visit tonight. Still, please consider what I said, it could be really big for both of you.” He pulled out two business cards, handing one each to Iwaizumi and Oikawa. “The job is relatively soon, so if you could let me know by the end of the weekend, that would be great. It was nice to meet both of you, and it was good to see you guys again!”

“We definitely will, thank you very much,” Oikawa responded, returning to his usual charming self. Iwaizumi only nodded as Daichi hugged Kenma and Kuroo goodbye, too busy processing everything he had learned. 

“Wait, why are you guys even here? I thought Kenma said he wasn’t going to come,” Iwaizumi drew his eyebrow together in confusion.

Oikawa laughed, “Oh yeah, did you finally convince him to go on that date with you?”

Kuroo flinched, and Kenma looked up quickly, his eyebrows raising. “No, I hadn’t asked yet. I just forced him to come considering he is the stage manager for this show.”

“And just like I thought, I shouldn’t have come. Nothing exciting going on here,” Kenma complained, but something was missing from his typical light-hearted skepticism. “So I’m leaving. Bye Oikawa, Iwaizumi.”

He started towards the exit Daichi had used, and Kuroo shot them an apologetic smile before scampering after him. Iwaizumi drew his eyebrows together, watching them go. Huh. He hadn’t noticed anything before, but something was definitely up with those two.

“Well, that was the wrong thing to say. My bad.” Oikawa shrugged his shoulders, not looking sorry in the least. “Anyways, how do you plan on getting to California?”

The question startled him, yanking him back to Daichi’s proposal. “What do you mean how I’m getting there? I haven’t even agreed to anything yet, and neither have you.”

Oikawa threw his head back, giving a short laugh. “I think the answer is obvious. Film is the next step in my career, just like he said, and I know I’m good enough to land a job. I’ve just been waiting for a good opportunity, and here one is. It’s the same way for you, you know a film is the best way to hit it big.” He put a hand on Iwaizumi’s shoulder, smiling brightly. “Although I get if you want to wait to respond, we don’t want to seem too eager.”

“You don’t know anything about me.” Oikawa drew his hand away, his smile dropping, but Iwaizumi continued. “He said the job is soon, and I’m currently in the middle of a production. So are you. I have obligations here, I can’t just up and leave. Traveling would take at least a few days, plus spending a few days there, which would mean taking at least a week off. How do you suppose I do that? Either way, my whole career has been in theatre, so why would I waste my time working on a film?”

Oikawa crossed his arms, glaring at Iwaizumi. “Maybe I don’t know you, but we’ve been working together long enough that I thought we understood each other. Here is a perfect opportunity for your future, don’t act like it isn’t. I’ve heard the way you talk about the film you used to do in college, and you make it sound like something you care about. It’s everything you want, but all you can do is come up with excuses. Why don’t you try taking a risk for once in your life? Sure, it might not be worth it, and you’ll have to miss a week, but you won’t know if you don’t try.” He was only an inch or two taller than Iwaizumi, but he seemed larger, eyes flashing with an intensity Iwaizumi had never seen before. “If you want to stay here, fine. I won’t try to convince you anymore. But don’t come crying to me when you miss your chance.”

For a moment they only stared at each other, Iwaizumi unable to formulate a response, but Oikawa didn’t wait around. Instead, he shook his head slowly before walking back over to the crowd, leaving Iwaizumi alone with his thoughts.

The rest of the weekend was over before Iwaizumi knew it. Oikawa avoided him, refusing to talk for anything that wasn’t strictly professional. Despite himself, Iwaizumi found himself missing his annoying presence. He didn’t realize how often Oikawa seemed to pop up around him, lighting up his day right when he needed it. 

Although they weren’t speaking, or maybe because of it, Oikawa performed better in each remaining show than the one before. It felt like a message to Iwaizumi, that he would be perfectly fine without him. That didn’t stop Iwaizumi from being enraptured every time Oikawa stepped on stage or considering his words from the bar.

In all honesty, Oikawa was right. There was no reason not to go. Kindaichi knew enough to keep the show and rehearsals running while he was gone. If he ever freaked out, Kenma had been a stage manager for years, and Iwaizumi knew he would have no problem taking over while he was gone. 

Still, he couldn’t help but be cautious. He had spent years pursuing a career directing in theatre and this point, he was good. Comfortable. Happy, even. There was a future for him here, and he knew it would be something he was content with. Driving to California would just be a week of time that he could spend working on the show.

Yet Oikawa’s words ran through his head. It’s everything you want, but all you can do is come up with excuses. Why don’t you try taking a risk for once in your life? All his work had been towards becoming the best he could be, the top of the business. More than that, he was intrigued by film in a way he hadn’t felt in years. He could live a comfortable life without it, but he knew if he skipped out, the thought of this opportunity would always be with him. He would never stop thinking what if? Who would he have met? What could he have created? 

What would he have become?

As the last show came to a close, Iwaizumi sighed, dropping his hands to his hands. He needed to go find Oikawa. As the theater began to clear, Iwaizumi made his way backstage, avoiding a sea of scrambling actors and crew members cleaning up from the show. He walked up to the dressing room, knocking on the entrance lightly before cracking it open. “Oikawa, come out. I need to talk to you.”

There was no response, but the voices on the other side of the door quieted. Iwaizumi waited outside awkwardly, dodging the stares of the cast and crew when they noticed the director standing outside. It wasn’t like he wasn’t used to the dressing rooms or backstage. He just avoided them when he could. He spent most of his time onstage, lecturing the actors, except when he was helping the crew, so standing outside the dressing rooms like a lost fan was not generally his style. 

After a few minutes of waiting, Oikawa walked out, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. His face was still caked with makeup from the show, the liner around his eyes smeared slightly from sweat, and he had taken off the top of his costume, leaving on only a damp white undershirt. “Well? What do you want.”

Iwaizumi swallowed, glancing around the hallway before focusing on Oikawa. “You were right. The only reason I didn’t want to consider the job is that I’m afraid. I’ve been a director in the city for so long I guess I forgot who I wanted to be since I started this job. It wasn’t right of me to get mad at you when you were only saying what I should’ve known all along. So, for that, I’m sorry.” He rubbed the back of his head, glancing down. “And I’m going to do it. I’ll go to LA.”

Oikawa stood motionless, and for a moment Iwaizumi worried he was just going to walk right back in the dressing room. Finally, his lips curled into a smile and Iwaizumi relaxed, not even realizing how tense he was until then. “No hard feelings Iwa-chan! Of course you decided to come, I know you can’t pass up on a chance to drive with me for hours. And I didn’t realize you were so sweet, I don’t think you’ve ever said I was right before.”

“Yeah and don’t think you’re going to be hearing it again. Ever. This was a one-time thing,” Iwaizumi stepped away before processing what Oikawa had said. “Wait, what do you mean drive together? Daichi never said anything about that.”

“Of course we’re going to drive together. What kind of boss would you be if you didn’t take care of your actors like that? Also, carpooling is better for the environment, so we’ll be saving the Earth.” Oikawa interlocked his fingers, stretching his hands above his head, before noticing Iwaizumi’s raised eyebrows. “I don’t have a car, so it just makes sense.”

Of course, it was practical. That’s the only reason he would want to drive together. “Why don’t you just have your boyfriend take you instead? I’m sure it would be better for both of us.” 

“Now that wouldn’t make any sense, we’re going to the same place! No, we’re going together, it’s settled. Don’t worry, I’d be happy to let you drive, I’ll be in charge of the snacks!” Oikawa began pacing back and forth, counting on his fingers. “Let’s see, it’ll probably take us a few days to get there and back… plus a few days in the city…”

Intercepting his path, Iwaizumi pulled him back towards the dressing room. “Get over here, you’re in everyone’s way. We haven’t even let Daichi know yet, so we should make sure the offer is even still there.

“Oh don’t worry, I already let him know we’d come.”

“Both of us? You told him both of us would be there?” 

Oikawa didn’t even look embarrassed at the accusation, crossing his arms and tilting his chin upwards as his eyes shone, brightening from the dark eyeliner. “Yes, I did. If you didn’t come around today, I was going to yell at you until you got it through your thick skull. Not just because you’re my ride, but because it’s obviously the right choice.”

Iwaizumi started in surprise, a warm feeling spreading through his chest. He couldn’t even get mad at Oikawa for answering for him. Instead of just taking the chance for himself, he was willing to risk the wrath of his boss to make sure Iwaizumi wouldn’t miss out on something for his career. No one had ever looked out for him like that before, and he was surprised by how nice it felt. Still, there was no way he was going to tell Oikawa that. “Fine, whatever. Now get back in the dressing room to get changed, we have a lot to do before we leave.”

Raising his hand in a mock salute, Oikawa shoved through the door, looking over his shoulder quickly. “This will be the best road trip of your life. Just you wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo got a hint of some conflict with them, but now we’re finally going on the roadtrip!! Also yes I did include some kuroo kenma drama, because I love them so ofc i have to make them suffer. depending how the rest of this story goes, i may make a spin off for kenma and kuroo? Idk, let me know if you guys would be interested in that. also, if you guys have any good fic recs please leave a comment or message me, im desperate for some new content lol.
> 
> also let me know what you thought of the chapter and anything you’d like to see more of!


	5. finally on the road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oikawa and Iwaizumi finally start their road trip, with all of the banter

After agreeing to drive together, Iwaizumi began preparations with the rest of the cast and crew immediately. The producers weren’t happy with his decision, especially after he told them he wasn’t sure if he would be able to make it back for the weekend shows, but he stood his ground. Reluctantly, they agreed to his request for time off. It was just like Oikawa told him. This was his chance, and he had never missed a second of work before, so it was time. The whole trip was for continuing his career, not some stupid vacation, so he felt justified.

When he told the rest of the crew, they reacted pretty much how he expected. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” He asked Kenma, shifting on his feet. “I can easily cancel the trip.” 

Kenma didn’t seem concerned. “I figured you would be doing something like this after seeing you with Daichi,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “We’ll be fine. It’s not like you do that much during the show anyways. Just have fun.”

Kindaichi was another story. By the time Iwaizumi finished explaining what he was doing, the color had drained from Kindaichi’s face, leaving a ghost-like figure behind. “So it’s just going to be me?” His question came out in a high pitched squeak. “No one else?”

“I told you this on opening night—if you’re confident in yourself, you’re more than capable of running this. The cast knows what to do by now, so you’ll just be helping them along a bit. Anyways, Kenma will be there, and he’s been doing this long enough. He’ll answer any questions you have. Just trust yourself,” Iwaizumi put a hand on his shoulder, intending to comfort him. “Kindaichi. I’m counting on you.”

He didn’t believe it was possible, but somehow his face turned even whiter. Still, he nodded his head, a determined look entering his eyes. “I won’t let you down.”

The rest of the evening was spent arguing with Oikawa over everything from how much milk bread was appropriate to buy for one road trip (however much Oikawa could afford), to who would be driving (Iwaizumi) to what time they would leave in the morning (very early).

Iwaizumi had never been a big car guy, but he knew enough to keep his in decent shape, so he figured it would last for the trip. Packing was quick— a few sets of casual clothes for driving as well as some nicer business clothes for when they finally made it to the city. Daichi hadn’t specified what they would need to bring, or what it would look like once they arrived, so Iwaizumi packed a few different options. Hopefully one of them would be good enough.

By the time he finally fell into bed, he was exhausted, but sleep just wouldn’t come. He stared up at his ceiling, watching the fan spin above him. Around and around it went, cycling about as quickly as his thoughts. Choosing to go with Oikawa was the right decision. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind about it. Yet he couldn’t stop the concerns running through his mind of everything that could happen or go wrong.

In all honesty, he wasn’t even worried about arriving in LA yet. For now, all he could think about was the days he would be spending with Oikawa, on the road. They had never spent such a long amount of time together. Sure, there were hours at the theatre during rehearsals, and both of them usually ended up being the last ones to leave every night. But they had never seen each other outside of the show before, not counting the cast party. Iwaizumi couldn’t decide if it was excitement or dread when he imagined it, but whatever it was, it kept him up for hours, until he finally slipped into sleep.

By the time his alarm went off, Iwaizumi woke immediately, feeling like he had just fallen asleep. Everything was already packed, so all he had to do was make sure his apartment was locked and throw his bags into the car before leaving. The sky was dark when Iwaizumi slowed to a stop, parking his car in front of a large apartment complex a few blocks away from the theater. He yawned, pulling out his phone to text Oikawa that he was outside. They had decided the day before to leave early in the morning so they could hit the road before the traffic became too bad.

Barely a minute after he sent the text, his phone began to ring, Oikawa’s name on the screen. He picked up quickly, trying to turn off the noise. “Yes, Oikawa?”

“I can’t believe all you did was text me! Do you know how rude that is? What if I wasn’t checking my phone? Then I would’ve missed your text completely, and we would have never left on time.” Iwaizumi winced at the screech sounding through his phone. 

“We agreed that I would pick you up at four, I think it was safe to assume you would be ready.”

“Well I’m not, so come up and help me, I can’t do it all by myself,” Oikawa whined, “I’m in apartment 324, and I swear it’ll be quick.”

Iwaizumi sighed. “Fine, I’ll be up there in a minute. But keep working, I don’t want to see you sitting on your ass just waiting for me to do it all when I get there.” He quickly hung up on Oikawa’s protests and started his car, moving it into a parking spot in front of the building.

Hopping out of the car, he made his way into the building, climbing up the stairs to reach his floor. Oikawa’s room was at the end of the hall, and he knocked quickly, shoving his hands into his coat pocket while he waited. 

Almost immediately the door swung open, Oikawa’s smiling face appearing on the other side. “Good morning Iwa-chan! How nice to start the day seeing your shining face,” he said, pushing the door wide open and walking back into his apartment. Iwaizumi followed, standing in the doorway while Oikawa began pulling several large suitcases towards the entrance.

Iwaizumi eyed the ever-growing pile in front of the door. “Why do you have so much stuff?” 

“One is for my day clothes, one is for my meeting clothes, one is for my fun clothes, and the other is just other things,” he said, shoving the last one towards the door.

“What other things?” Iwaizumi questioned. Oikawa didn’t respond and began to grab a few suitcases, walking towards the door. Before he could make it past, Iwaizumi blocked the entrance. “I’m not going to let you leave until you tell me, so you better get it over with soon since you care so much about us leaving on time.”

Oikawa dropped the bags, throwing his hands in the air. “If you must know, it’s for my hair products.”

Iwaizumi raised his eyebrows, picking up the suitcase and holding it up to Oikawa. “This whole thing is for your hair products? Seriously?”

“Yes, you can’t look this good without a little help. There’s not even that many, so it’s not a big deal,” Oikawa said, snatching the bag from his hand. “Just for that, you get to help me carry some of these.”

Laughing slightly, Iwaizumi picked up the last two before being ushered out of the apartment by Oikawa. They took the elevator, Oikawa humming quietly as they made their way down. Once outside, Iwaizumi opened the trunk, throwing the bags into the back. 

“Careful Iwa-chan!” Oikawa yelled, raising a hand to his mouth. “It’s like you want me to look bad for my audition.”

“I don’t use any products for my hair and it looks fine.” Iwaizumi paused at Oikawa’s expression. “What’s that look supposed to mean?”

Oikawa shrugged his shoulders, a small smile on his face. “I’m just saying, one of us is seen on stage, and one of us isn’t, that’s all.”

“I’m gonna hit you,” Iwaizumi threatened, stepping towards Oikawa as he ran away, dropping his bags while shrieking towards the passenger seat. Rolling his eyes, he picked up the bags from the ground, squeezing them into the trunk before slamming the door shut. 

In the car, Oikawa was fidgeting with the radio station, spinning the dial to various stations. Immediately Iwaizumi turned off the radio, starting the car and pulling out of his parking spot.  
“You can’t expect me to listen to nothing for this whole ride. We need music!” Oikawa cried, attempting to turn the radio back on.

“It’s four in the morning, I’m not listening to the radio yet. I need to drink my coffee before I’m ready for any of that,” Iwaizumi said, handing him his phone. “Either way, you need to look up the directions for me. If I’m going to be driving then you’re the navigator, so look them up.”

Clapping his hands excitedly, Oikawa snatched the phone out of his hand, immediately exiting out of the maps system. “Oikawa, stay on the directions page and stop going through my phone.” Iwaizumi reached over to grab the phone out of his hand, keeping his eyes on the road, but Oikawa turned away, holding the phone out of reach while taking a picture of himself.

“I’m just adding a picture for my contact information. How else will you know it’s me?”

“It has your name on it, stupid.” Iwaizumi gave up reaching for the phone and focused on the road. “I don’t need a picture to tell who you are.”

Oikawa gasped, “Why are you always so mean to me, Iwa-chan! I’m the best actor you know yet you treat me like trash.”

“This has nothing to do with who you are as an actor, I just don’t want you going through my phone.”

He winked, raising an eyebrow in Iwaizumi’s direction. “Why, do you have anything you don’t want me to see on it? Any fun pictures?” He gasped. “You have a secret collection of nudes, don’t you.”

Iwaizumi looked over at Oikawa, pausing at a stoplight. “No you idiot, I just don’t want you going through my things,” he said, snatching the phone out of his hand, switching it back to the maps program before handing it back over. “Now find directions, I know I’m supposed to go west but I think it would be best for the both of us if it was a little more specific than that.”

“Fine, fine,” Oikawa said, updating his profile picture before looking up directions. They pulled onto the interstate and began driving in silence, Iwaizumi relaxing slightly. It was different, having Oikawa next to him in such a casual situation, but it didn’t feel unnatural. Kind of like he had always been there. Occasionally he would go to turn on the music, and Iwaizumi would hit him in the shoulder lightly, Oikawa shouting at him as he turned it off. It wasn’t that he disliked singing. But it was barely five in the morning. How does any sane person sing that early?

They entered the interstate highway without much excitement, the roads becoming a bit more crowded but still pretty empty. Oikawa scrolled on his phone for a bit before closing his eyes, trying to get some sleep while they drove. He didn’t mind at first—he would force Oikawa to drive eventually, and then he’d get his chance to sleep. After a few hours, the sun began to rise, lighting up the car enough to wake up Oikawa. He stretched in his seat, arms over his head as he yawned.

“Took you long enough,” Iwaizumi said, tapping his fingers on the wheel. “Do you realize how boring it is to drive on the highway with nothing going on? The least you could do is entertain me.” He didn’t care that Oikawa had slept, but he was bored and giving Oikawa a hard time always provided some entertainment.

Oikawa sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Of course, Iwa-chan, I’d be happy to entertain you.” He waggled his eyes suggestively.

“Not like that dumbass,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I was thinking you could set up a podcast to play or something.”

“Absolutely not!” Oikawa gasped as if offended by the idea. “Why would you want to just sit around and listen to someone else talk? That’s such a waste when my voice is much better. Anyways, I want to play a game.”

“Idiot, I’m driving, I can’t play a game right now.”

Throwing his feet up on the dashboard, Oikawa shook his head. He was so tall he seemed like a giant, his body twisting to fit in the seat. “There’s plenty of driving games we can play. Have you heard of the license plate game?”

“No.”

“Oh good!” He clapped his hands excitedly. “All we have to do is look around at the cars around us and try to find a license plate for each state in the US. Whoever finds the most states wins. Plus, anyone who finds the weirdest custom plate gets bonus points.”

Iwaizumi glanced over to the passenger seat, an eyebrow raised. “This sounds like the kind of game bored kids play.”

“Age is just a number! Anyone can play it, and it’s perfect for us.” He crossed his arms, leaning back in the seat. “And you were the one who said you were bored, so I don’t see what you’re complaining about. Don’t worry I’ll keep track on my phone.”

He pulled out his phone and began looking out the window. “Okay, I see two plates from Illinois… there’s one from New Jersey… ew, Florida.” For a moment they were silent, both looking at the different cars as they passed.

“This is stupid.”

“You’re not even trying!”

“Fine.” He sighed leaning forward in his seat while eyeing the road in front of him. If he was going to be stuck playing this game, might as well make it worth something. “But whoever loses has to buy dinner.”

Oikawa grinned, pulling his feet from the dash and leaning forward. “Now that’s the spirit! I’d love a free dinner.”

“Indiana. And there’s a South Dakota up there.” Iwaizumi pointed to a truck in the far lane. “Two points for me.”

“Fine!”

They continued for a while, naming states and random plates that they saw. “This is still stupid,” Iwaizumi said, glancing at Oikawa who was somehow crouched in his seat, craning his head to look at the cars behind them. 

“Shut up, Iwa-chan!”

Oikawa lost, 28-26.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know not much happened this chapter, lots of dialogue and fun interactions. but this was necessary to set up for the rest of the story, and next chapter more will happen. and now that we’re finally on the road trip it’s gonna be iwa oik time all the time which is faaaaaantastic. Also did oikawa ask about iwaizumi’s nudes?? Yes ofc. are they both competitive little shits? yes and i love them for that.


	6. creepy diners and cheap motels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> day 1 of road trip down, with lots of arguing, stupid decisions, and unfortunate situations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter took a bit longer! i’ve been trying to update pretty consistently, but i got a bit distracted this week. Next chapter should be soon tho

“Just try it!” 

“No.”

“Please, it’s so good, I promise it’ll be worth it.”

“It’s toast with syrup, salt, butter, and three different types of jam. How could that possibly be good.” Iwaizumi leaned back in his chair, eyeing Oikawa’s plate distastefully. They had continued driving for most of the day, only stopping occasionally at rest stops and once to get gas. Both of them had packed food for lunch, so they ate on the road, but had decided to have dinner at a restaurant. Oikawa was, as Iwaizumi quickly found out, a sore loser, and wouldn’t talk to him for about an hour after they finished their game. Still, with a little bit of coaxing, and a promise to let him choose where they would eat dinner, Oikawa was back to his normal self.

Looking around the diner, Iwaizumi considered it may have been worth it just to let him wallow in his defeat. Around eight at night they had started looking for a place to eat. While Iwaizumi was perfectly happy going through a drive-through at some fast food place, Oikawa was determined for something more exciting. 

“But Iwa-chan, we’re on a road trip! I don’t care what you think but if I’m here, I’m going to have fun. And that means eating at a cute diner!” Oikawa had argued after hearing Iwaizumi’s idea.

“I thought you’d agree considering you’re the one who has to pay,” Iwaizumi grumbled and pointed to a fast-food sign on the side of the highway. “See there’s one right here, we’d be eating in no time.”

Oikawa threw his head back, bringing the back of his hand to his forehead in distress. “The payment is a burden I am willing to bear,” he sighed, before sitting up quickly. “Pull off at this exit, this town looks promising. I’m sure we’ll be able to find someplace good here.”

“Of course your highness,” Iwaizumi muttered under his breath but complied. Once exiting, he quickly realized Oikawa’s hopeful outlook was misplaced. At this point in their drive, they were somewhere in the middle of Nebraska and had been driving through fields for the past couple of hours. The town itself looked about the same. A poorly paved street was lined with stores and restaurants, each looking more run down than the last, with a gas station at the end. “Oikawa, I don’t think there’s going to be anything here, we should just go back on the highway and lo-”

“Right there!” Oikawa shouted, pointing out the driver’s side window to a tiny building past the gas station, so Iwaizumi slowed to a stop in front of it.

It was off to the side of the rest of the shops and seemed to take each of their worst parts and combine them into one. The parking lot was made of gravel with plastic bags and old wrappers littering the ground. Instead of a normal entrance, a stuffed scarecrow sat in a rocking chair next to the door, holding up a welcome sign. It may have been cute, adding to a family-style country feel, but the scarecrow looked to be missing a limb, and the sign was barely readable. Ruben and Rylee’s 24 Hour Breakfast was written above the door in flickering neon letters— several of the letters had lost their light completely, leaving only the message “Run an 4 fast” lit up, spaced out between the actual name of the restaurant. 

“Hell no,” Iwaizumi shook his head, turning to look at Oikawa. “Are you insane? There literally could not be a more sketchy restaurant if you looked it up in a horror movie. This can’t be real. It’s telling us to run away for heavens’ sake.”

Oikawa crossed his arms. “I don’t care what you say, I think it’s cute. Either way, you agreed that I get to choose where we eat, so you don’t get a choice. I want to eat here.”

“You’re an idiot, you know that,” Iwaizumi said, but complied, pulling into a spot in front of the building.

The inside of the diner was about what Iwaizumi expected. It seemed to be themed in a ‘God Bless America’ style— unsurprising for the middle of nowhere Nebraska— with red-checkered tablecloths, blue booths, and American flags on the wall. Somehow the lights on the inside were flickering about as much as the outside, and everything looked so faded it could have been from the 80s. At least it looked clean enough.

After walking in they were greeted by a teenage girl who looked about as shocked by their arrival as Iwaizumi was. Leading them to a booth in the corner, they each ordered toast to start their meal, as well as orange juice for Iwaizumi and water for Oikawa. Waiting for the rest of their meals, Oikawa decided to create a combination of everything left on the table, which led to his horrendous toast disaster.

“You’d be surprised, it’s actually pretty good.” Oikawa took a huge bite of the toast, chomping on it thoughtfully. “I mean of course the jams go together, it’s basically just mixed berry plus some peach, and you’d be surprised how well the salt brings out the maple syrup.” He continued to chew thoughtfully before noticing Iwaizumi’s horrified look. “What? You haven’t even tried it so you don’t get to comment.”

Iwaizumi shook his head and began buttering his toast. “I don’t care. I still think you’re disgusting.”

“And you’re still the meanest person alive.”

Shrugging his shoulders, he took a bite from his toast. “Whatever, better than being you, Shitykawa.”

Before he could respond, the waitress walked back over to their table, balancing their plates on her arm. “Here you are, gentleman. A french toast for you,” she placed a plate heaping with strawberries and whipped cream in front of Iwaizumi, “and for you,” setting down sunny side up eggs and potatoes in front of Oikawa. Iwaizumi’s mouth immediately began to water at the sight of the food. Eating only a small lunch and occasional handfuls of the random snacks Oikawa had bought was enough to leave anyone starving, to an extent that he hadn’t even realized until she had placed the food in front of him.

Thanking her, the two quickly dug into their meals. Iwaizumi doused his meal with syrup and began cutting it into even pieces. Scooping up a piece—complete with the perfect ratio of syrup, toast, strawberry and whipped cream— he took a bite, closing his eyes at the taste. Maybe it was because he was so hungry, but somehow, despite the outward appearance of the restaurant, the food was delicious. Humming, he opened his eyes to grab another bite, before noticing Oikawa staring at him, a smirk on his face. 

“Why are you looking at me like that,” he said, narrowing his eyes across the table.

“Oh, nothing, nothing. I’m just surprised that tough and angry Iwaizumi has such a sweet tooth.” He laughed, starting on his meal. “Don’t be embarrassed, it’s adorable. Makes you seem like a real human.”

Iwaizumi felt his cheeks heat up so he ducked his head, focusing on his food. “Oh shut up, of course I’m a real person. There’s nothing wrong with sweet food, and you were the one who picked a breakfast place. I’m not about to miss out.”

Oikawa raised his hands defensively. “I’m not judging, I get it. All I’m saying is if you like sweets so much you should’ve tried some of my toast.”

“I’m not trying your stupid toast, now hurry up and eat.”

They finished the rest of the meal without incident, paying quickly and heading back to the car. Before they could leave, Oikawa made Iwaizumi pose in front of the building so he could take a picture. “Come on, smile, show that you’re happy to be here.”

“I’m not happy to be here. Why would I smile?” Iwaizumi crossed his arms, nudging the broken scarecrow next to him. Somehow it looked even sadder and more broken up close. “Just hurry up and take the picture so we can leave.”

“Okay,” Oikawa said in a sing-song voice, raising his phone to take a picture before Iwaizumi followed him towards the car. “But you don’t get to complain when the only memories you have from this trip is your unsmiling face.”

Iwaizumi unlocked the door, buckling his seatbelt before starting the car. “I’m perfectly fine with that.”

“Wait, just one more.” Before he could protest, Oikawa leaned over, throwing an arm over Iwaizumi’s shoulder. He leaned in, raising his hand in a peace sign and smiling at the camera. For a moment, Iwaizumi froze. Oikawa’s face was right next to his own, closer than it had ever been before. As he glanced over, all he could think about was how he had never noticed how long Oikawa’s eyelashes were. They made his eyes almost glow as if they had a light of their own. Did eyelashes get tangled? He wasn’t sure, but if they did, Oikawa’s definitely would, they were that long.

Then Oikawa blinked, messing up his stupid, perfect eyelashes, and the moment passed. Iwaizumi shoved him back over to his seat, putting the car into reverse. “Don’t take pictures of me like that. And buckle up, you’re supposed to do that before we start moving.”

“You started driving right after pushing me! First of all, that’s rude, and second, you didn’t give me any time to do my seat belt so it’s your fault,” he complained but fastened his seatbelt. They pulled out of the parking lot and went back down the street, heading back on the highway. 

For about an hour they continued to drive. Oikawa babbled on as he usually did, but Iwaizumi stayed quiet, lost in his thoughts. Why did it affect him so much when Oikawa did things like that? Noya was one of the most affectionate people he knew, but that had never bothered him the way it did with Oikawa. For whatever reason, he would just freak out over the littlest things, and he couldn’t figure out why. Most likely it was because of how much Iwaizumi was in awe over his acting abilities. Even after all this time, he still couldn’t tear his eyes away when Oikawa was performing. So that must be it.

By then it was nearing 10:00, so they decided to take the next exit, parking at the nearest motel they could find. Iwaizumi opened the trunk, pulling out his bags. “Do you really need all of these for tonight? We’re just going to be driving tomorrow.”

Oikawa looked offended at the question. “Of course I do, I wouldn’t want them to get stolen. I mean there are cars everywhere and look at how sleazy this place is.” He gestured around them.

“So you consider this place to be sleazy, but you had no problem with that diner? How?” Iwaizumi said, walking towards the check-in counter. “And fine, but I’m not helping you to carry any of them.”

He left Oikawa next to the car, protesting as he struggled to stack his bags up in his arms, and approached the counter. The small lobby area was empty except for an old man who sat behind the desk, reading a book. “Hello, could I have two rooms for the night?”

For a moment, the man continued to read, licking the tips of his fingers to turn the page. Finally, he looked up to Iwaizumi slowly, before glancing down. “We got one room available for the night. 60 bucks, you pay upfront. Return the key by 10 am.”

Iwaizumi narrowed his eyes, putting his hand onto the counter. “I’m sorry sir, but I actually said I’ll need two rooms for the night. I’m here with a colleague, so we’re both going to need one.”

“I heard you.” He didn’t bother to look at Iwaizumi this time and continued to read. “It’s the middle of the busy season and we got construction on half the building. We got one room open for you. Take it or leave it, I don’t get paid enough to care.”

“What happens to be the trouble, sir,” Oikawa said, approaching from the car. Although he was lugging four suitcases, balanced on top of each other, he appeared to be perfectly at ease. He flashed a smile to the man, setting down his bags and leaning against them, causing the man to look up from his book, startled.

“Ah, yes, we only have one room open for the night. Sorry for the inconvenience, I’d be happy to alert you if an opening comes up, but for now, we have just the one,” he said apologetically, closing his book on the counter.

Of course, Iwaizumi huffed. Of course, he’s stuck sharing a room with Oikawa after being forced to drive with him. Of course, out of all the motels, this was the one undergoing construction. Of course, the man was perfectly kind to Oikawa, after barely paying attention to Iwaizumi, even if he was just as much a paying customer. Of course, because the universe hates him.

“Oh it’s all right, it can’t be helped. We’ll take it,” Oikawa said before looking at Iwaizumi. “As long as that’s okay with you?”

Iwaizumi nodded, pulling out his credit card. “Yeah, we’ll make it work for tonight, I guess.”

Oikawa grabbed his arm before he could hand the card over. “What are you doing?”

“Paying for our room?” Iwaizumi said and yanked his hand away. “Don’t make a big deal out of it, I’m not being nice. You can pay tomorrow to make it fair, and either way you covered dinner.”

Paying for the room, he grabbed the key and left the lobby area, Oikawa following behind after thanking the man. Luckily enough, their room was only a few doors down from where they parked the car. Iwaizumi unlocked the door, shouldering it open with a shove. Holding the door with his hand, he let Oikawa enter first, dragging in his bags behind him. 

“You have so much shit, is this all necessary?” Before he could make it fully into the room he stopped, running into Oikawa’s back. “What are you doing, put your stuff inside.”

He turned to the side, making way for Iwaizumi to pass. “It’s just… I mean do you…” he trailed off, scratching the back of his head and nodding his head towards the room. Iwaizumi walked past him, brows furrowed. Oikawa never stuttered and always had something to say, so he wondered what would make him act that way. Looking up, he stopped next to Oikawa.

Oh. That’s why. The room was tiny, with only a bed and a dresser next to it, with a lamp in the opposing corner. Another door was in front of them, presumably leading to the bathroom, but besides that the room was empty. Just the bed, dresser, and lamp. The one bed.

Fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally we are getting to the fun part! I am obsessed with them teasing each other there was so much in this chapter and there will continue to be a ton more, i will not apologize. And thanks oikawa for picking the sketchiest place every, i totally feel like he would be the person to do this. anyways, this chapter was a bit shorter than normal, but don’t worry next chapter will hopefully make up for that ;)


	7. what to do with one bed?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> night one of the trip to LA, Iwaizumi and Oikawa find themselves stuck with one bed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took longer to get up, but it’s a lot longer than usual so hope you enjoy

Oikawa’s head snapped towards Iwaizumi, and he realized he had spoken out loud. Cheeks flushing, Iwaizumi ducked his head, walking further into the room. “I just meant… This is annoying and it’s gonna be a hassle to get changed.” He began inspecting the rest of the room to make sure he wasn’t mistaken. Maybe there was an extra room with another bed. Maybe this shitty hotel wasn’t trying to screw him over, and he was wrong.

He wasn’t. The door led to a small shower and bathroom, and nothing else was in the room. Leaning against the door, he looked up to Oikawa, who was back to his typical smiling self. “Well, I can go talk to that guy again about getting another room, or maybe just a different room with another bed or something. If not, I can take the floor, you can have the bed.”

“Nonsense,” Oikawa waved a hand at Iwaizumi’s concerns. “We both heard him say this was the only room, and I’m too tired to go try and find another motel at this point. And you’re not sleeping on the floor, you drove all day and we’re doing it again tomorrow.” He pulled the rest of his bags into the room, crouching next to them as he organized them against the wall. “What’s the big deal Iwa-chan, never shared a bed with someone before?” He teased with a smile, looking over his shoulder at Iwaizumi.

Crossing his arms, Iwaizumi cocked an eyebrow, maintaining eye contact with Oikawa for a moment instead of answering. To his delight, Oikawa visibly swallowed before looking away, his jaw tight. “No, that’s not what I’m worried about. This just isn’t the most professional of situations, considering you’re an actor on my show, but it’ll be fine, it’s just for a night.”

Iwaizumi spoke to reassure himself as much as Oikawa, but Oikawa didn’t seem to notice, nodding as he pulled up one of his bags and walked towards the bathroom. “Of course it will be, I’m perfectly professional.” He grinned and held up his bag. “I’ll get ready and then we can switch.”

“Fine but you better not take too long on your night routine,” Iwaizumi called after him as he shut the door. Sighing, he fell onto the bed rubbing his eyes. Just his luck. Having to spend days together driving across the country was one thing, but he knew what he was getting into when he agreed to the trip. Sleeping in the same bed was a completely different beast. It was more personal. Intimate. And with Oikawa of all people. Iwaizumi constantly had to berate him for acting unprofessional at the theatre and there was no doubt sleeping in the same bed would make it worse.

He smiled slightly, remembering how Oikawa was acting earlier. At least he wasn’t the only one bothered by this. In the months they had known each other, he had never seen Oikawa genuinely flustered by anything. He never got embarrassed, able to flirt with anyone no matter who they were, and was possibly the most confident person that Iwaizumi knew. Still, he suspected Oikawa had also not planned on such unique sleeping arrangements considering the way he reacted.

Whatever. It wouldn’t be a big deal. They were just two coworkers, who had to share a bed for the night. Nothing else but that. It had been a while since he had shared a bed with someone that he wasn’t in a relationship with. Probably since high school. Still, even in his past relationships, he had always been the kind of boyfriend who wanted his own space, his own room. Not that it mattered, because this would be just like with his high school friends— awkwardly cramped but fine.

Sighing, Iwaizumi stood up to grab his bag, just as Oikawa walked out of the bathroom. “You know there isn’t much to do in Nebraska. I was hoping we could do something fun tomorrow, but there isn’t even much sightseeing on our route. It’s just going to be another boring day of driving.” He flopped on the bed dramatically, looking up to the ceiling.

“Get over yourself, we’re not here for fun. Neither of us can afford to fly, so this is our way of getting to LA. It’s not just a fun trip. I’ve told you this already,” Iwaizumi said, pausing at the door of the bathroom and squinting at Oikawa. “You have glasses.”

Oikawa lifted his head, pushing his glasses back onto his face. “Yeah, I mean I wear contacts most of the time. Glasses don’t really work in the acting business, and why would I want to hide this beautiful face?”

He lifted a hand under his chin, posing with a smile. Somehow, he managed to look just as good with glasses as he did without. They made him seem softer, less of the cocky star he always was on stage or around the cast. Just as gorgeous, just as confident, but somehow more… real.

“Of course you would think that.”

“What do you mean, do you think I’m wrong?” Iwaizumi shut the door to the bathroom instead of answering. He got ready quickly, brushing his teeth before throwing on shorts and a t-shirt from one of the first productions he worked on. Having a distraction of the weird diner and the conversation with the hotel manager, he hadn’t quite realized how tired he was, but he could feel it dragging him down as he finished getting ready. He rubbed his eyes, noting the dark circles under them in the mirror. They still had two days of driving left, but Iwaizumi already felt drained. He’d just have to make Oikawa drive starting tomorrow. 

Grabbing the door handle he took a deep breath in preparation before walking out into the room. The lights were turned off, with just the lamp on the right side of the bed illuminating most of the room dimly. Oikawa was sprawled across the bed, wearing sweatpants and what looked like an old college t-shirt. He was on his phone but looked up when Iwaizumi walked in, flashing him a grin.

“I see I made the right choice,” Oikawa said, but at Iwaizumi’s confused expression he elaborated. “Well I would never sleep with a shirt on normally, but I figured that wouldn’t fit with your idea of professionalism. So you’re welcome.”

He flashed that stupid smirk again, and Iwaizumi felt heat rush to his face. Pulling out his phone, he prayed it wasn’t noticeable and broke eye contact. “That wouldn’t be very professional, you’re right, so of course I did the same.”

Walking to the lamp, he reached up to turn it off but paused briefly as Oikawa spoke. “What would you usually wear then?”

At first, he didn’t answer, but when he looked up he saw Oikawa’s stupid teasing look on his face. Oikawa constantly made fun of him, and Iwaizumi usually just ignored him. Tried to ignore him. But maybe it was his turn. Iwaizumi turned his head, making eye contact with Oikawa while shooting him a smirk of his own. “I wouldn’t wear anything. Now move over so I can have some room.”

Right away, he knew he had succeeded, when Oikawa’s cheeks flushed and his brown eyes turned molten. For a moment Iwaizumi thought he had pushed him too much, gone too far past the carefully drawn line they always danced around, but Oikawa simply obliged, moving to one side and pulling back the covers. Iwaizumi flicked off the light and suddenly the glow of Oikawa’s phone was the only light left in the room. Following that light, he peeled back the covers, opening his phone once more before clearing his throat. “I’ll set an alarm for 7 tomorrow, so we can try to hit the road by 8.”

“Sounds good.” Oikawa’s voice sounded more strained than usual, but he simply turned off his phone, plugging it into a charger next to the bed. Iwaizumi followed suit before climbing under the covers into the bed.

As soon as he got under the covers he realized he messed up. Ever since he had walked in and realized they would have to share a bed he had told himself it would just be two coworkers doing what they had to. Maybe that was still true, but it didn’t feel like it. He had definitely misjudged how big the bed would be. It was barely enough to contain two people, let alone two grown men, so Iwaizumi could feel the heat emanating off of Oikawa’s body. Shifting slightly, he bumped his elbow against Oikawa’s arm and flinched back.

“Can’t you move over anymore?” Iwaizumi said, trying to lengthen the gap between them.

Oikawa laughed from the other side of the bed, but Iwaizumi couldn’t see his face in the darkness. “This is a tiny bed, so no, I can’t. We’re going to hit each other at some point and you’re just going to have to get over it.”

He muttered something else, but it was too quiet for Iwaizumi to hear, so he just ignored it. “Whatever. Goodnight then.”

“Goodnight, Iwa-chan.” Oikawa’s voice was quiet, and soon the room fell completely silent, making him all the more aware that it was only him and Oikawa in this tiny room. Every part of him felt charged, and whenever they would graze each other, it was like a shot of electricity up his body. After a while he stopped moving, so Iwaizumi figured he had fallen asleep, before he spoke, breaking the silence.

“Iwaizumi, do you think this is the right thing to do?” 

Iwaizumi looked over. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the room, and he could see Oikawa’s profile as he stared up at the ceiling. “What do you mean?”

“This trip. I know I gave you a hard time about going to LA, and how this was the only choice, but I just…” Oikawa’s voice held a hint of vulnerability that Iwaizumi had never heard before, but he didn’t stop. “I’m worried I’m making a mistake. That I’m not ready for a film.”

“Oikawa, you’re an amazing actor, one of the best I know. Acting in a movie will be different, but it’s the next big step for you. I believe with one hundred percent certainty that you’re ready for this. I mean it, as your director and your friend,” he reached out, elbowing Oikawa lightly, “this was the right choice.”

He simply nodded, turning his head to meet Iwaizumi’s gaze. His eyes were soft and honest so when he whispered “Thank you,” Iwaizumi could tell he truly meant it. Turning back towards the ceiling he closed his eyes before smiling. “And of course I’m an amazing actor, I couldn’t be anything else.” Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, and within a few minutes, he could hear Oikawa’s breathing even out. 

They had been driving for hours, so he wasn’t surprised by how quickly he had fallen asleep, but for some reason, Iwaizumi couldn’t do the same. He tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position on the lumpy motel mattress, but nothing worked. Maybe it was this side that Iwaizumi had never seen before, or maybe just their closeness, but he turned to look at Oikawa’s face closer. Iwaizumi knew his face well. It was practically his job to stare at him, but he had never seen him sleeping before. 

He was peaceful in a way that he never was when acting, or even talking to the cast. All the lines were gone from his face, and his mouth was relaxed, instead of being forced into that stupid smile he always wore. His hair was usually perfect, but now curls fell around his face into his eyes. Oikawa was always stunning, but right now, asleep in this cheap motel after a full day of driving, Iwaizumi thought Oikawa was the most beautiful man he had ever seen.

Not that he could let himself think that way. They were coworkers, Iwaizumi was his boss at that. Interfering with that would make him a bad director, and it wasn’t right as a friend. They were constantly making fun of each other, but at this point, they were close enough that he couldn’t risk messing it up with stupid emotions.

But hadn’t he been thinking like this all along? His mind flashed to all the time they had spent together. Oikawa laughing with a group of the cast and looking up to make eye contact with him across the theatre. Oikawa on stage, commanding the attention of the audience with every word he said. Oikawa staying late at the theatre until Iwaizumi forced him to leave, teasing him as he locked the door. Oikawa making fun of him as they drove. Even on the first day they met, Iwaizumi was drawn to him, fascinated by his stupid smirk just like everyone else.

And now here he was, fantasizing about Oikawa while he lay asleep next to him. What a great boss. A sinking feeling hit the pit of his stomach, and one thought hit him with surprising clarity. He liked Oikawa.

Iwaizumi continued to toss and turn for about an hour. He did his best to stay on the far side of the bed, but every time Oikawa would move and touch him, he would be wide awake all over again. Eventually, the hours spent awake caught up to him and he fell asleep. When he woke up, somehow his situation was worse.

The whole night he had spent trying to get as far away from Oikawa as possible, but apparently, his sleeping self didn’t like that idea. After blinking the sleep out of his eyes for a few moments, he realized at some point in the night he had wrapped himself around Oikawa. Their legs were tangled together, and Iwaizumi’s arm was thrown over Oikawa’s body, who held it close to his chest. Oikawa was faced away from him so he couldn’t tell if he was awake, but when Iwaizumi brought his head a little closer his breathing sounded even. That was lucky, considering Oikawa was currently pressed into him, a situation his entire body was acutely aware of. The last thing Iwaizumi needed was for Oikawa to wake up and then have to explain the situation.

Oikawa muttered in his sleep, shifting slightly, and Iwaizumi had to suppress a groan. Yeah, he needed to leave before Oikawa woke up because this issue was not going to go away if he stayed. Slowly, he untangled his legs and pulled his arm away from Oikawa’s chest. Well, tried to. The moment he started to move, Oikawa grabbed his arm, yanking him even closer. Of course, the shithead wasn’t going to make this easy. Pulling his arm from underneath Oikawa, Iwaizumi reached over to grab Oikawa’s hand, freeing up his arm.

Before Oikawa could move again, or realize he was gone, he grabbed some clothes and raced to the bathroom. Turning on the shower— with very cold water— he stuck his head under, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Last night was possibly the worst time to get stuck sharing a bed with Oikawa, right after realizing how he felt. How he felt about his coworker.

It wasn’t that Iwaizumi was surprised he was attracted to Oikawa, he knew that from the first time they met. He was gorgeous and made sure everyone knew it. That wasn’t even the issue. Iwaizumi had worked with plenty of actors that he was attracted to, and they ended mostly the same— either he would go on a few dates, then sleep with them, or just ignore it. Either way, he would get it out of his system soon enough, and everything would be fine.

Oikawa was different. It had been months since they met, and this stupid attraction hadn’t gone away. Honestly, it had only gotten worse. He was one of the most annoying people that Iwaizumi knew, drove him completely crazy, was selfish, full of himself, and a complete attention whore. But somewhere along the way, Iwaizumi had started to enjoy his company, look forward to seeing him. Oikawa made him laugh. Iwaizumi wanted him— and not just for a night.

Not that realizing this helped him at all. He sighed and started washing. From the outside, maybe Oikawa could be interested in him, considering he flirted with everyone who breathes, but as far as Iwaizumi could see, he had never had a significant other. Either way, he was a coworker, and mixing business and pleasure was always a bad idea, no matter how you looked at it.

Finishing up in the shower, he quickly toweled off, changing into a comfy pair of sweatpants and a plain t-shirt under a zip-up jacket. Outside the bathroom, he heard his alarm go off, quickly followed by a shout and a loud thud. Probably his phone. After getting ready, he left the room, expecting Oikawa to be his typical bright and annoying self in the morning. Instead, he was sitting on the bed with his knees to his chest, with a sweatshirt hood pulled over his head. 

“Morning, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi said, walking towards his phone which was now lying on top of the bed. Oikawa only grunted in response, grabbing his bag and heading towards the bathroom. Jumping back onto the bed, he suppressed a smile. So chipper morning Oikawa didn’t happen right away. Good to know.

Iwaizumi heard the water turn on, so he lounged back on the bed, a hand behind his head. He wanted to spend the whole day on the road again because they still had a ways to go. If they spent the entire time driving today, one more night in a motel, then that would leave them plenty of time to hit LA by midday tomorrow. That would also leave them enough leeway to make their evening meetings in time. Oikawa knew someone else who was auditioning, so Iwaizumi would be going with Daichi to meet the other director he had mentioned.

Which meant another full day of driving alone with Oikawa. He dropped his phone to his chest, leaning his head back fully. It would be fine. He had survived the first day and had spent months on set with Oikawa, which was all day with barely any breaks. Granted, there were other people on set, but still. He could handle it. It’s not like Iwaizumi was going to jump him in the middle of Nevada or something. He would just have to focus on how annoying Oikawa was. Oikawa was easily the most infuriating person he’d ever met, so it shouldn’t be hard.

Standing up he groaned, rubbing his shoulders as he started to pack together all his belongings. Driving all day did not pair well with sleeping on tiny motel beds, but there was nothing he could do. Luckily for him, he wouldn’t get judged on his looks to be a director. For the most part, they just cared about what he could do.

As he finished packing his bag, he realized he left his pajamas in the bathroom, so he went over to knock on the door. He had heard the water turn off a few minutes ago, but he had to wait a moment before the door swung open. When it finally did, Iwaizumi’s jaw almost dropped before he caught himself. 

Oikawa stood in front of him with nothing but a small towel wrapped around his waist. Iwaizumi knew he used to play volleyball in college, but he hadn’t realized that Oikawa had managed to stay in such impressive shape. His chest was built of curves and ridges dripping with water, and arms that looked like they were sculpted from clay. As Iwaizumi’s eyes strayed lower, he could see clearly defined abs, and a trail of hair that led even lo—

“Yes, Iwa-chan, how can I help you.” Iwaizumi snapped his head up to Oikawa’s face at the sound of his voice. It wasn’t much better. His hair was damp and flopped down in front of his eyes, and his lips curled into a smile as if he knew exactly what Iwaizumi was thinking.

Iwaizumi swallowed, unwilling to let Oikawa see how bothered he was. He stood up straight and focused on Oikawa’s face. “I’m just here to get my clothes, move over.”

Shoving past Oikawa, he grabbed his clothes which he had left on the floor. Snatching them off the ground, he walked right back out, slamming the door behind him. “And try putting some clothes on before you open the door next time, idiot.”

“Oh please,” came the muffled response. Iwaizumi threw his clothes in his suitcase and fell onto the bed. This trip couldn’t be over soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha so finally iwa realized his feelings, and sorry to disappoint anyone who thought some fun times might go down in this chapter ;) that would just be too easy, so y’all will just have to wait and see


	8. potholes are problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took a bit longer! i’ve been having some crazy times with college so i’ve been distracted but i’ll be back to updating quicker :)  
> still i hope you like the chapter, let me know what you think!

After Oikawa finished getting ready-- a process Iwaizumi learned took 30 minutes, a screaming match, and every hair product on the planet-- they hit the road. Since Iwaizumi had driven the entire day before, he forced Oikawa to take a turn. Surprisingly he agreed pretty easily, so Iwaizumi took the chance to get some more rest. Luckily, it also came with the benefit that he could avoid talking to Oikawa, which was perfect considering he wasn’t sure how to be normal now that he knew how he felt. On the other hand, it quickly became clear why Oikawa agreed to drive so easily, a fact Iwaizumi became aware of as he was rudely awakened by the screeching of a banshee.

“What the hell are you doing?” Iwaizumi turned to Oikawa, a horrified look on his face. “Did you just kill an animal? How could you do that while driving?”

Oikawa pouted, pointing to the radio. “There’s no need to be rude, Iwa-chan, I was just singing.”  
Iwaizumi shook his head, sitting up straighter. “That was not singing, there’s no way.”

“Yes, it was! I’ll show you,” Oikawa said, turning up the radio a little louder, so Iwaizumi could hear the words before he spoke again. “Hello from the OUTSIDEEEE, at least I can sa--” 

Reaching up to the dashboard, Iwaizumi slammed the power button as if it had personally offended him, shutting off the radio and Oikawa’s singing. 

“What would you do that for? I was just getting to the good part,” Oikawa complained, glancing over to Iwaizumi with a frown on his face.

“That was not singing. I don’t even know what I just heard, it was so bad.” He tried to argue, but Iwaizumi kept going before he could speak. “You can’t even disagree with me. You didn’t even remotely hit the right notes, and you just screamed out loud on that last word. That’s not singing.”

“I like to call it taking my artistic liberty with the song.” After a moment of silence, he glanced at Iwaizumi in confusion. “What? I’m not even that bad.”

Iwaizumi shook his head. “How can you be in the acting business while being such a horrible singer?”

“I would not call myself a horrible singer, but you’re right. I do tend to avoid any… musical ventures. It’s not as hard as you’d think, most of my auditions are just for acting exclusively, and there’s plenty of roles for me that way. Anyways, there aren’t as many musical roles in film as there are in theatre so this offer works out for me.” He shrugged. “But I’m not that bad and singing keeps me entertained.”

He reached back over to turn the radio up, but Iwaizumi swatted his hand away. “Absolutely not. I don’t care what you think, you’re horrible.”

Oikawa reached his hand back over, fighting with Iwaizumi for the volume button. Iwaizumi would hit him, he’d stop for a second to lower Iwaizumi’s guard, and then he’d dodge it to turn the volume up again. Adele’s voice kept swimming in and out, but out of nowhere, the car hit a pothole, jolting them out of their argument.

“What was that?” Iwaizumi asked, bracing himself to the side of the car as it began to shudder every few yards.

As he looked over, he saw Oikawa had started to grip the wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. “Don’t be mad, but I think we just got a flat tire.”

“Of course we did.” Iwaizumi dropped his head back, sighing as he rubbed his forehead. “Okay, why don’t you pull over to the shoulder and I’ll call a tow truck or something.”

He complied, hitting the hazards and putting on the parking brake after pulling off to the side. “Do you have a spare?”

“Yeah, but I’m not even sure how to change it properly so we’ll just have to wait for someone to help.” Iwaizumi pulled out his phone and started to look up a number to call before Oikawa waved him off.

“If you have a spare we can do it,” he declared confidently, and opened the door, walking outside of the car.

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes but followed suit. He didn’t have any experience or knowledge with cars, so he didn’t see how they could just ‘do it,’ but it didn’t hurt to humor Oikawa. At least it would be some entertainment watching him try to figure it out while they waited for maintenance. They had driven extra the day before, so as long as fixing the tire didn’t take too long they’d still be on track for their trip.

The sun was bright, shining down on them through the cloudless sky. It was still early enough in the day that it wasn’t too hot, but Iwaizumi could already feel sweat beading on his back. Behind the car, Oikawa had opened the trunk, so he followed to see what he was doing. “Oikawa, we can’t just fix a tire without knowing how, and just because you got us a flat tire doesn’t mean you have to try to fix it.”

Oikawa was removing some of their bags to get at the spare, but stood up and crossed his arms when Iwaizumi spoke. “What do you mean when I got a flat tire.”

“You were the one driving. You hit a pothole, probably because you were trying to turn on the radio, so yeah. You gave us a flat tire.” 

“I can’t believe you! If you had just let me turn on the radio, since I was the one driving, we wouldn’t have even been arguing. Either way, I probably would’ve hit it anyways so it’s not my fault,” Oikawa argued, turning away from Iwaizumi. “But if you’re going to be a big baby about it then I guess I’ll just do it myself.”

He finished pulling out the last suitcases and lifted the flap at the bottom of the trunk. Underneath was the spare, as well as a few tools that Iwaizumi had no idea what to do with. “Idiot, I’m not mad, but stop acting like we can change the tire ourselves. It’s not as easy as it looks and I don’t want to mess it up and get us stuck on this highway for longer than we need to.”

“Well maybe if you didn’t blame like the rude person you are, I wouldn’t be trying!”

Sighing, Iwaizumi spread his hands in exasperation. “I’m not blaming you, you’re just being dramatic! It’s not like I’m mad, but you were the one driving.” Ignoring him, Oikawa started to take out the spare, so Iwaizumi continued. “I’m serious, stop trying to do it yourself. I do think you’re an idiot but it’s not because you gave us a flat, so just leave it!”

“Just trust me Iwa-chan, it’s going to be fine.”

“No. We could screw up the car, and it’s dangerous to be on the highway for too long, who knows what kinds of crazies could stop or hit us.”

A car zoomed by as if to emphasize Iwaizumi’s point, and Oikawa sighed. “Look, my dad is really into cars. He wanted a son just like him, so we spent a lot of time working on cars in the garage. I was more interested in theatre, volleyball, and boys so it didn’t work as he expected, but I picked up on a few things.”

He looked at Iwaizumi’s wide-eyed expression and laughed. “So yes, I can fix a tire.” Ignoring Iwaizumi’s obvious surprise, he pulled out the tire and jack. Yet again he was reminded of Oikawa’s obvious fitness, as he held the tire under his arm with ease, the muscles in his arm bunching up as he walked to the passenger side of the car. “Why don’t you make yourself useful and grab the wrench.”

Quickly, Iwaizumi grabbed the wrench, shutting the trunk behind him. Before following Oikawa to the car he paused banging his head against the car. This situation was not going to help him get over Oikawa. Oikawa has always been the biggest baby he’d ever met, he complains about every minor inconvenience. Everything. Yet, of course, he just had to become helpful now, and look insanely attractive while doing it.

“Get over here, I can’t take the tire off without the wrench!” Oikawa called from the front of the car. Pushing off the car, he walked over to where Oikawa stood. Just as Iwaizumi thought, the front tire on the passenger's side had what looked to be a small tear in it. The tire itself didn’t look too deflated, but he figured it would only be a matter of time before it’d become completely unusable.

Crouching down next to Oikawa, Iwaizumi looked at him expectantly. “Well? If you know how to do this, which by the way, I’m still not sure if I believe, what do you want me to do?”

“I do know how to do it,” he said indignantly and pointed at a few fairly large rocks. “Go take some of those and stop up the wheels so we don’t roll, and I’ll start taking off the hubcap.”

Iwaizumi did what he said, and by the time he came back, Oikawa had set up the jack behind the wheel. When he saw Iwaizumi had returned, he stood up, crossing his arms. “Since you were mean and didn’t think I knew what I was doing, you get to do all the work.”

“That’s stupid, I’ve never even done this before,” he said, but Oikawa only crossed his arms even tighter, looking away towards the trees. Iwaizumi sighed, relenting. “Fine, I’ll do all the hard work around here, you just tell me what to do.”

Following Oikawa’s instructions (who decided to pay attention again once it was clear Iwaizumi wouldn’t make him do any of the work), he got the car completely raised and began removing the nuts on the tire. They had been outside for no longer than ten minutes, but it felt like someone had turned up the temperature by just as many degrees. Unzipping his jacket, he took it off and threw it back into the car before crouching back next to Oikawa. 

“Now you just have to remove the wheel, and then we do the same thing backward,” Oikawa said as he leaned against the car, looking away in disinterest. The highway they were on was built through a forest or preserve-- whatever it was, they were surrounded by trees on both sides. They couldn’t see much going on besides that, but it made a much better view than just open fields.

The wheel ended up being harder to remove than Iwaizumi expected, but he wasn’t about to let Oikawa know that. After wiggling it around a bit it still wouldn’t come off, so he took the wrench and hit the inside of the tire with it. The sound of metal on metal rang out, but Iwaizumi ignored it and tried the tire again. He could feel sweat dripping down his back, but he kept pulling until it finally came loose enough for him to yank it off.

Stumbling a bit, he stood up and paused, repositioning the tire before noticing Oikawa’s attention had turned to him once again. “What? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Oh yeah, that’s fine, I think it was rusty or something that’s all. I was just noticing your shirt, it's very,” he paused, looking Iwaizumi up and down, “nice. It’s a nice shirt.”

Iwaizumi looked down at himself, confused. He had just thrown on another one of his old high school t-shirts since he knew they’d just be driving all day. It was so old that it had faded, and was tight around his chest and arms since he had grown plenty since high school, but it wasn’t anything special. “Are you kidding?”

Scratching the back of his neck, Oikawa shook his head. “No, it just... it looks very nice. Fits nice.” He opened his mouth, then closed it, before opening it again and adding quickly, “do you work out or something? It looks like you do, I was just wondering.”

Iwaizumi narrowed his eyes at Oikawa as color crept up his neck. “Yeah, I used to play volleyball too actually, but now I have to workout at the gym to stay in shape. I usually just go in the morning before rehearsal if we don’t start too early. Why are you acting so weird?”

“I’m not acting weird, you’re being crazy,” he said and roughly grabbed the tire out of Iwaizumi’s hands. I’ll put this in the back, you just put the spare on.”

Iwaizumi watched as Oikawa sprinted past him to the back of the car. Somehow, Oikawa managed to get weirder and weirder as they spent more time together. He thought he had him figured out during the show, but sometimes Iwaizumi just couldn’t decipher what he was thinking. Shrugging his shoulders, he turned back to the car and focused on getting the spare back on so they could continue their trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this chapter was a bit shorter and definitelyyyyyyyy fluffy, sorry if you were looking for some action! i felt like iwa needed this and i love the idea of oik knowing something iwa doesn’t like this idk plus bad singing. but if you were dissapointed i promise next chapter will be much longer and definitely be more exciting, so look forward to it ;)


	9. what happens in vegas stays in vegas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the longest chapter yet so i hope you guys like it!! also let me know if y’all like shorter chapters that are more frequent or longer cause i’m never sure

In twenty minutes they had the tire back on, but they spent another ten arguing about who would drive. Iwaizumi figured that since Oikawa was the one who gave them a flat tire, he shouldn’t be allowed to drive. Oikawa insisted that it wasn’t his fault and either way he deserved a second chance. Soon enough they were back on the road, with Oikawa at the wheel. As much as they argued, Iwaizumi just couldn’t say no to him, but he wouldn’t give it up easily, which led to the ten minutes of arguing.

Once they finally got on the road, the rest of their ride was fairly mundane. They made a quick stop for lunch at a fast-food chain, which Oikawa was horrified by. Apparently, on the ideal road trip, you can’t even eat cheap food for lunch, but Iwaizumi thought it was fine. He drove after that and threw on a podcast to listen to. It tracked the life and investigation of a serial killer from the perspective of one of the police officers. Listening to it was the one thing they didn’t disagree over, but they spent the rest of the drive arguing about how the killer got away with it. As the day came to a close, they arrived at their destination. Las Vegas.

A city of gambling, money, sex, and adventure, it was easy to spot as they got closer. They had been driving through desert and grass plains for most of the day, and the bright lights were visible even against the background of the setting sun. Iwaizumi didn’t particularly want to go to Vegas, but it was a convenient location close to Los Angeles, and they would easily find a room for the night. They would have plenty of time to make it to their meetings the next day, and, when he brought up the idea of staying there for the night to Oikawa he wouldn’t give up on it.

As they drove closer and closer to the heart of the city, Oikawa’s excitement was palpable. “How aren’t you excited? It’s Vegas! Anything could happen here,” he cried, bouncing in his seat as he craned his neck towards the window so he could see the city.

“I told you, I just don’t see what the big deal is,” Iwaizumi countered. While Oikawa was whipping his head around to see every bright light or attraction, Iwaizumi stayed stone-faced, focused only on the road in front of him. “It’s a place people go to lose money and be stupid, that’s all. You can do that anywhere, so I don’t see the point of dedicating an entire city to it.”

“You’re wrong. This is a city of adventure and possibility. Maybe if you tried looking around a bit and seeing something, you would agree with me.” Iwaizumi didn’t respond, so Oikawa elbowed him.

“No thanks, I’ll focus on finding us a place to stay tonight.”

There were plenty of options to pick from. As they drove closer to the heart of the city neon signs screamed for their attention, offering the best deals and endless comfort at bars, hotels, strip clubs, and casinos. After ten minutes of circling for a hotel, Iwaizumi selected one at random, pulling into a parking garage. He had decided to stop in Vegas because he figured it would be easier, given the multitude of hotel options, but he couldn’t help but be on edge. It was as if everything in the city was screaming at him to go there or do this, and his mind couldn’t handle it.

“Iwa-chan? Do you want to check-in?” Iwaizumi whipped his head around to Oikawa, who looked at him with furrowed brows. 

He had been staring straight ahead with his hands clenched on the wheel, unmoving, so he let go and nodded. “Yeah, sorry about that.” Stepping out of the car he walked towards the back, grabbing their bags while Oikawa shut the trunk behind him. As they walked towards check-in he looked around at the hotel further.

It still had neon lights and flashy signs but was slightly subdued-- less crowded, less going on. As Iwaizumi looked closer, he realized he must have subconsciously chosen the least Vegas-like hotel he could find, which was still more than enough to handle. Regardless, it helped a bit, and he felt the tension in his shoulders loosen as he approached the counter.

Before he could speak to the woman running the desk, Oikawa grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks. “Are you planning on getting one room?” He asked, looking up into Iwaizumi’s face expectantly, a grin on his face. “I just figured since we have to spend all this money on the trip, we might as well share a room again to save some costs.”

Iwaizumi stared at him, attempting to conceal his surprise. Oikawa made a good point. Paying for gas to travel halfway across the country wasn’t exactly cheap, so they should try to cut costs whenever they could. Still, he wasn’t sure if he could handle another night sleeping so close to him. The night before they barely touched and Iwaizumi freaked out, and that was when he had only just realized his feelings. Tonight would be even harder to hide. 

Realistically, he knew the right choice would be to just pay the extra money for another room. Regardless of how he felt, it wasn’t fair to Oikawa to make him share a room without knowing the extent of Iwaizumi’s feelings. Still, he just couldn’t help himself. “Yeah I’ll do that and don’t worry, I’ll ask for two beds this time.”

“Sounds perfect.” Oikawa’s smile faltered for only a moment, short enough to almost make Iwaizumi think he imagined it if it weren’t for the fact that the smile that returned didn’t quite reach his eyes. Before he could think any further, Oikawa let go of his arm to talk to the woman at check-in.

\----------------

“But Iwa-chan, we can’t just stay in the hotel for the whole night!” Oikawa complained, pulling on Iwaizumi’s arm as he looked through room service. They had arrived in their room half an hour ago and had spent most of the time getting situated. It was much bigger than their previous motel, with two double beds lining one wall and a television, desk, and small armchair on the other side. Near the entrance was a decent sized bathroom, complete with two sinks and a full bath.

Iwaizumi had planned on crashing for the rest of the night-- throwing on the complimentary hotel cable, ordering room service, and lying in bed. Oikawa, of course, had other plans. “You can’t just stop in Vegas for the night without going out! We could go to a bar, a casino,” he waggled his eyebrows, “a strip club.”

“I’m not going to a strip club with you, Oikawa.” He flipped through the room service menu, looking for the cheapest option. Even a salad was more than he wanted to spend, but he needed something to find something worth eating in this godforsaken city.

Oikawa tugged harder on his arm. “I was just joking, we don’t need to go to a strip club. But we do have to go out, at least for a few hours.”

Sighing, Iwaizumi threw the menu to the side and rubbed his eyes. It wasn’t his intention to go out, but Oikawa wouldn’t stop nagging him until he agreed, and he could use a drink. “One hour. And I get to choose the place.”

“Two and you have yourself a deal,” Oikawa threw back, holding out his hand for Iwaizumi. Sighing, Iwaizumi shook it once as Oikawa squealed. “Perfect! Give me twenty minutes to get ready, and we can be on our way.”

They had both been wearing casual outfits of sweats and t-shirts for the ride, a look that wouldn’t fly where they were going. Iwaizumi had packed a few sets of nice clothes for the meeting, so he had a few choices. Deciding on a light blue button-down and gray slacks, he threw them on quickly before waiting by the door for Oikawa to get ready. He did a quick search on his phone, looking for a destination within walking distance of their hotel, and grabbed a protein bar out of his bag.

“Ready for our night of adventure!” Oikawa walked out of the bathroom and Iwaizumi instantly regretted his decision to go out. Wearing a tailored navy blazer over a white shirt, paired with tan pants and dress shoes, Oikawa looked more put together than Iwaizumi had seen in days. His hair was perfectly styled once again, and the top two buttons of his shirt were open, giving just a tease of the muscular chest Iwaizumi knew was underneath.

It was going to be another long night. “It’s not an adventure, we’re just going out for a bit. And it’s only because you’re forcing me. If this was my choice I would be in bed for the rest of the night.”  
Laughing, Oikawa threw his arm over Iwaizumi’s shoulder. “Good thing it’s not your choice then. You’re more determined not to have fun than anyone I’ve met.”

“Shut up idiot, that’s not true. I just have a different idea of fun than you” Iwaizum said, slipping a key card into his pocket and leaving the room. He headed towards the elevator, Oikawa following closely behind.

“Where are we going?”

Iwaizumi pressed the button for the elevator, tapping his foot as they waited. With a ding, the door opened and they stepped inside. “Wait and see.”

“You can’t just not tell me,” Oikawa protested as the elevator creaked, beginning their descent downwards. “What is it? A bar? A restaurant? A strip club?” Iwaizumi didn’t respond, staring straight at the doors. Within a moment the doors opened and the walked out, exiting the hotel.

Conveniently, their hotel was located just under a mile away from their destination. It was well into the night by the time they left, but there were so many people and lights that it seemed just as lively as during the day. As they walked Oikawa continued to pepper him with questions about where they were going, but Iwaizumi just ignored him. He was unfamiliar with the city, so he kept his phone out in case he needed directions, but foot traffic was busy enough to give him a general sense of where he was going. Finally, Iwaizumi came to a halt in front of a large flashy building, while Oikawa nearly fell over in his haste to stop.

“A casino? I didn’t peg you as a gambling man,” Oikawa said after he regained his footing, standing next to Iwaizumi.

Iwaizumi just shrugged his shoulders, joining the line to enter the casino. “I’m not. But you forced me to go out so I had to choose something,” he said, showing his ID to the bouncer. Once inside, they walked over to a cash cage to get some credit for the casino. “Just make sure you don’t take out too much money, we’re not going to be here for that long.”

“I know, I know, I’ve gambled before.” Oikawa followed suit, paying for some credit before surveying the casino floor. “Where should we go? The world is your oyster.”

“If you don’t stop being annoying I’m gonna hit you,” Iwaizumi threatened, and Oikawa jumped back defensively.

“Fine meanie, I guess I’ll choose,” he said, leading the way further into the casino. It wasn’t one of the biggest in the city, but it was still crowded, filled with individuals all testing their luck for the night. At first glance, he could see a row of slot machines, but mostly the floor was made of craps, blackjack tables, and several poker games. The noise was almost overwhelming-- the clanging of spinning machines, drunken laughter drifting over from the tables, angry shouts of sore losers.

Instantly Oikawa beelined for the rows of slot machines by the front of the floor, occupied by several other individuals. “Oikawa, you know these are rigged, right?” 

“Of course I know that,” he responded easily as he dropped in a few coins and pulled the lever. “But I have to try my luck here before going anywhere else. If this goes poorly, I could lose everything for the rest of the night!”

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Iwaizumi muttered under his breath but watched with Oikawa as the machine spun. It began to slow down, stopping right before a payout line.

The machine flashed, declaring Oikawa hadn’t won anything, so he hit the machine with a hand before turning away. “Looks like tonight will not be in my favor. You pick our next game, maybe I’ll have better luck when you choose.”

Turning around, Iwaizumi surveyed the rest of the casino. Waitresses milled around the room, delivering glasses to keep their customers happy and gambling, while others sat at the bar, screaming at the various sports games shown on tv’s hung along the wall. From the outside, everything and everyone seemed to be jumbled together, but Iwaizumi could see each part working like cogs in a machine. In some ways, it was like the theatre during a show-- chaos to anyone who didn’t belong, but a work of art if you understood where to go.

That familiarity eased his worries slightly, but he couldn’t stop the tension from building yet again. “Let’s get a drink before we do anything else,” he said, nodding towards the bar. They made their way over, sitting down on two stools next to each other. Oikawa waved over the bartender, ordering two drinks, and handed one to Iwaizumi. Raising the glass to his lips, he downed the drink in one go, holding it out for another. The alcohol burned its way down his throat, spreading warmth through his chest and instantly relaxing him.

“Holy shit Iwa-chan, I didn’t realize this was going to be one of those nights.” Oikawa shrugged his shoulders and followed suit, downing his drink. “Not that I’m complaining, I’ll happily get wasted with you.”

Taking another long draft of his drink, Iwaizumi shot Oikawa a look. “I’m not here to get wasted, I just needed a drink before we play.” He nodded his head towards the poker table.

Oikawa leaned back, appraising Iwaizumi as he looked him up and down. “I didn’t peg you as a poker player either.”

“What did you peg me as then?” Iwaizumi said, watching Oikawa out of the corner of his eye.

“The kind of person who chooses to stay home instead.”

Iwaizumi snorted. “Well, you’ve got that part right.” He downed the rest of his drink and stood up. “Let’s see if you can use that genius during the game.”

They walked onto the floor, approaching a table with two men and one woman already seated. The dealer, a short man who looked to be in his mid-twenties, spread his hands towards a few open seats, indicating they should sit. Iwaizumi sat between one man, an older gentleman, and the woman, while Oikawa sat opposite him.

The game was Texas Hold ‘em, one Iwaizumi was very familiar with. During college, his freshman roommate had been obsessed with gambling and constantly begged Iwaizumi to play with him. They hadn’t stayed friends for long, but it was enough that he had picked up the technique of the game, and even learned to enjoy it a bit. He didn’t play often nowadays, but he hadn’t forgotten.

After explaining the buy-in and collecting the initial cash for the game, the dealer dealt the players two cards each, and the game began. A few rounds went past where Iwaizumi played it safe, betting only slightly and focusing his attention on the other players. They all had their tells; the woman flicked her ring when she was indecisive, the man on his left spoke louder the more confident he grew, and the other man was more subtle, one eyebrow twitching with a good hand. The only person he couldn’t read was Oikawa.

He was staying even, just like Iwaizumi, but he couldn’t understand Oikawa’s plays. One round he would win big, completely drawing in an opponent. The other, he would go in hard without anything to back his claims. Either way, he exuded confidence, with that infuriating grin stuck on his face through the whole thing.

After they had been playing for a while, Iwaizumi started to be bolder in his moves, testing the other players. Soon enough he found himself alone against Oikawa. He had raised just before the fourth card was dealt, and the woman had folded soon after. His cards weren’t great, and it didn’t look like the final card was going to be much help, but it could have been worse. On another hand, he might have given up and folded, but that was before Oikawa opened his stupid mouth. 

“I’m sure you’ll be wanting to flop now,” Oikawa said and Iwaizumi jerked his head up from the cards, making eye contact. Oikawa was leaning back in his chair with his cards on the table, his hands folded behind his head. His lips were curled into a smirk, and Iwaizumi could read the taunt in his eyes, even from across the table. “There’s no way you’ll beat my hand.”

As he stared at Oikawa, everything around him seemed to blur out of focus, but he could see Oikawa with surprising clarity. Throughout the game, he had been readily accepting drinks without paying much attention to it, but he realized now he was more affected than he realized. Still, there was no way he could back down now. He wasn’t about to lose to Oikawa.

“Try me.” Oikawa’s eyes widened as Iwaizumi matched and then raised his bet. Oikawa called, and the dealer laid down the river, an ace of spades. Without breaking eye contact with Oikawa, Iwaizumi raised again, pushing in another stack of chips. “Are you sure you can beat mine?”

Oikawa stared back, attempting to read Iwaizumi’s bluff, but he stood still, only focusing on Oikawa’s face. The man next to him complained, but they ignored him, focusing only on each other. Iwaizumi could feel the tension between them like a string pulled taut, tying them together. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t tear himself away from Oikawa’s gaze. The grin had fallen from his face, and he looked more serious than Iwaizumi had seen. It was like he could peer into the depths of Iwaizumi’s soul and didn’t understand what he saw. It was electric and intense, and Iwaizumi was addicted.

After a moment, Oikawa broke eye contact, tossing his cards down to the table. “I fold. Looks like I underestimated you.”

“I must have a better poker face than you expected,” he responded, laying his cards down for Oikawa to see. He had nothing. If Oikawa had stayed with the bet, he would have won the hand easily, a fact that seemed painfully obvious after seeing Iwaizumi’s hand. 

Oikawa only nodded, visibly swallowing as he stared down at the cards. Instead of responding to Iwaizumi, he looked away, grabbing the rest of his money. “I think I’m done for the night,” he said, turning to walk away.

Still seated at the table, Iwaizumi watched him weave his way through the crowds until he could no longer see him past the others on the floor. Honestly, his reaction was surprising. Not that Oikawa was a sore loser, that he knew, but Iwaizumi thought they were having fun, regardless of the game. Even worse, he left so abruptly without even acknowledging the other players. It was unnecessarily rude and just didn’t make sense.

“Sir? Are you in or not?” Looking away from where Oikawa had disappeared, he realized the dealer had been talking to him.

“No thank you, I think I’ll be done as well.” Gathering up the rest of his money, he downed the last of his drink and thanked the other players before heading towards where Oikawa had left. He was slightly unsteady on his feet, finally feeling the full impact of his continuous drinks throughout the evening, but otherwise, he felt fine. Great, even. For the first time since driving into Vegas, he felt completely relaxed and comfortable with his surroundings.

Iwaizumi had last seen Oikawa heading away from the game floor, so he followed, heading towards one of the side hallways. Once past the slot machines, the casino was less crowded, with only a few newcomers loitering around the line of ATM’s. On the far side of the machines stood Oikawa, leaning against the wall between the machines and the edge of the room. His jacket was off, slung over his arm, and it looked like he was texting someone. As Iwaizumi approached he looked up for a second before going right back to his phone.

“What the hell Oikawa? Why did you just leave like that?’ Iwaizumi snapped, coming to a stop a few feet away.

“What’s the big deal, Iwa-chan, I just didn’t feel like playing anymore,” he responded, without looking up, a mocking lilt to his voice. “And I didn’t realize you were so talented. Congrats for your win, by the way.”

Iwaizumi narrowed his eyes to Oikawa. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, nothing. I just didn’t peg you as a liar.” 

At that, Iwaizumi clenched his fists, heat flushing to his face. “It’s poker, that’s the point of the game. Having a good poker face doesn’t make me a liar.” 

“Whatever, Iwaizumi, it doesn’t matter,” he said dismissively, and Iwaizumi narrowed his eyes at the use of his full name.

“Even if I was a liar, it’s not like you’re any different. I see you when you’re with the cast or a crowd. You just smile at everyone and act like you're the happiest man alive, but I can tell it’s just as fake as the roles you play on stage. You’re being a hypocrite if you're mad at me for being a liar when lying is all you do.”

Oikawa didn’t respond, just continued typing away at his phone, and Iwaizumi could feel the anger rising in him. Stepping closer, he snatched the phone out of Oikawa’s hands. “Look at me goddammit. Stop pretending I’m not here and be real with me for once.”

“Fine. You want me to be real? I’ll be fucking real.” For the first time since Iwaizumi had arrived, Oikawa met his gaze, eyes blazing. “I lie all the goddamn time. I lie to everyone I meet so I can be the perfect golden boy that they all expect me to be. It doesn’t matter when a performance ends because everything is just a show to me. And I lie to you the most. Every second I spend with you I’m lying to myself and I’m lying to you. Every fucking second.”

They stared at each other, Oikawa’s chest heaving from his outburst, and Iwaizumi realized how close they had gotten. The shifting shades of chocolate and honey in Oikawa’s eyes were bright with anger, and Iwaizumi could see the blinking lights of the casino reflecting at him. The energy between them was tangible, charging him like he was on fire, and he couldn’t stop himself from glancing down to Oikawa’s mouth. As he looked back up, Oikawa pushed off of the wall, leaning towards Iwaizumi as if daring him to come closer

Iwaizumi was infuriated. This idiot across from him just wouldn’t make sense. For no reason, he got angry, stormed away from the game, and then ignored him like it was nothing. He acted like a hypocritical child, and Iwaizumi wanted to kiss him more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.

Stepping forward, he put his hand against the wall, leaning towards Oikawa until they were mere inches apart. Slowly, he brought his other hand up to Oikawa’s face. In the morning he’d regret this, wish he had watched his drinks, and kept his mind, but right now he couldn’t bring himself to care. All that mattered to him was the heat in Oikawa’s eyes and this desperate need, until Oikawa spoke once again. 

“Don’t you want to know what I lied about?” He whispered, lips barely moving, but it was enough to make Iwaizumi freeze as he focused back on what they were talking about. For the past months, they had spent so much time together, and Iwaizumi thought they had gotten to know each other. During this trip, they had become even closer, enough for him to consider them friends. Realistically, he knew it could never be more than that, but now Oikawa was telling him all of that was a lie? If that was true, then were they even friends? Did Iwaizumi know him at all?

Dropping his hand, he stepped away, shaking his head. “I don’t care,” he shot back. With a final shake of his head, Iwaizumi spun on his heel and walked to the exit, leaving Oikawa behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhhhhh I love me some angst and arguing ;) i hope you guys liked the chapter!! also check out my tumblr storiesand-things !! i think i’m going to post a few shorts there soon, we’ll see


	10. welcome to LA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to another chapter of two boys horrible at communication!!!

The streets were crowded as Iwaizumi left the casino, even more hectic than it had been when they first arrived. They had spent longer in the casino than planned, and it was well past midnight by the time he began walking to the hotel. Not that it mattered. All he wanted was to be in bed, asleep, and forget about the night. Stray partiers and gamblers passed him on either side, lighting up the streets with sounds of the city, but for the first time, Iwaizumi didn’t care. 

Although the Vegas streets were almost as hot during the night as the day, Iwaizumi began to cool down, running the conversation with Oikawa over and over in his head. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he wasn’t even mad at Oikawa. What had he even done? Leaving the table and then ignoring him wasn't the problem. He was always dramatic like that. It wasn’t even that Oikawa had lied to him. 

Since Iwaizumi cast him in the show, he knew that was who Oikawa was. A man who didn’t know how to be real. When it came down to it, the only person Iwaizumi was mad at was himself. Somewhere along the way, he had begun to fool himself into thinking they were more than they were. That they could be something. When they talked, he tricked himself into thinking Oikawa felt the same, but he let himself get caught up in the heat of the moment. Oikawa was just a coworker who liked to joke around, and that’s all it would ever be.

The walk back to the hotel wasn’t short, but it seemed to go by in seconds in his state. By the time he shut the door to the hotel room, his legs felt like they were dragging and the room was fuzzy on the edges, most likely from a combination of his lack of sleep and the alcohol he had consumed. He quickly changed and brushed his teeth, before flopping into the bed closest to the door. Just before he closed his eyes, he remembered Oikawa was still gone, and he had no idea where he was, but within a minute he was fast asleep.

Iwaizumi jerked up from his sleep at the sound of banging on the door. When he glanced over, the clock on the side table blinked the time at him-- three in the morning-- and he groaned. Some drunk probably lost their key card and was banging on all the doors to try to find theirs, and dealing with that was not something he needed right now. Rolling over he closed his eyes, hoping it was just his imagination, and tried to fall asleep again.

“Iwa-chaaaaan, open the door! If this is our room let me in,” Oikawa’s voice came from outside the room, and Iwaizumi’s eyes flew open again. Great, the drunk idiot in the hallway was his drunk idiot. With a sigh he threw off the covers, rubbing away the sleep from his eyes. Looking through the peephole, all he could see was hair, but it was just Oikawa’s color and was definitely his voice.

Unlocking the door, he cracked it open and Oikawa came stumbling in, falling flat against him. Iwaizumi reached out to support him before they both fell completely to the floor, and Oikawa raised his head, a sloppy grin on his face. Iwaizumi grimaced as Oikawa looked at him, the smell of booze overwhelming. “I knew you would answer, you always do,” he said, words slurring together.

“Oikawa, what the hell did you do.” Iwaizumi grabbed his arm, half supporting, half dragging him towards the bed. Oikawa being a six-foot man didn’t help make it any easier, but eventually, he sat him down on the bed. 

“I made you hate me so I didn’t want to come back home, so I met some very fun people, and we had a lot of drinks,” he said, his head falling forwards towards his chest.

Sighing, Iwaizumi bent down and began untying Oikawa’s shoes. “I don’t hate you, Oikawa.”

Oikawa’s head snapped up and he looked towards Iwaizumi, eyes slightly unfocused. “Yes you do, I told you how I feel and what I do and you left.”

“I just needed some time. It’s going to take a lot more than that to get me to hate you,” Iwaizumi said as he finished taking off the shoes and standing up. “How did you get back here?”

Falling backward into the bed, Oikawa squinted. “I threw up outside the bar, and I think someone put me in a cab, and I remembered the hotel because it was the not crazy one that you liked. Then I threw up again outside the hotel and hit a button for this floor. I just knocked on the doors and then you answered!” He grabbed Iwaizumi’s arm, yanking him forwards, and hugged it to his chest. “Because you don’t hate me.”

Despite himself, Iwaizumi smiled down at Oikawa. He couldn’t stay mad at this idiot for long, especially once he realized Oikawa wasn’t even the source of his anger. “No, I don’t, but I am going to need this arm back so you can go get changed into some pajamas.”

“That’s so far away,” Oikawa whined, pulling Iwaizumi until he was sitting next to him. “And too much work.”

Letting go of Iwaizumi, he began to sloppily unbutton his shirt, and then started on his pants before Iwaizumi grabbed his hands. “Not here, go get changed in the bathroom into some pajamas and then come back.”

“But I don’t want to Iwa-chan!” He crossed his arms, pouting slightly. “It’s too hot and the floor keeps moving so I can’t walk on it.”

“Fine, I’m not going to argue with you on this. But then you’re going straight into bed. It’s already late, and we have an important day tomorrow,” Iwaizumi said, turning away from the bed. Clothing rustled behind him as Oikawa finished undressing, and he saw them land towards where his blazer had fallen earlier. “Are you under the covers yet?”

He could hear Oikawa moving across the bed before the noise stopped. “Yes, you can turn around.”

Oikawa had kicked off most of the covers but had drawn a thin blanket up to over his shoulders. “Goodnight then. If you need to throw up again, I’ll put a trash bin next to your bed, so just do it in there.”

Walking to the bathroom, he pulled out the small bin and pulled it to the side in the middle of the beds. Oikawa had fallen into the bed Iwaizumi was using before so he moved to the opposite bed, pulling back the covers. As he did, Oikawa reached out, grabbing the back of his shirt. 

“No, Iwa-chan, you’re supposed to sleep next to me,” he murmured, opening his eyes to look at Iwaizumi. “Don’t leave again.”

“Oikawa, I’m not leaving, I’m just sleeping in the other bed. I won’t be far away.”

“Please, Iwa-chan. Please just stay.” The room was dark, but he didn’t need much light to see the empty look in Oikawa’s eyes and the desperation in his voice. 

Sighing, Iwaizumi closed his eyes. He knew he shouldn’t-- it was situations like this that made him believe Oikawa cared about him the same way Iwaizumi did-- but he couldn’t help himself. Maybe that was the real purpose of this trip. To teach him that no matter what, he would always try to make Oikawa happy and take care of him. It was stupid. He knew that, but he had to. “Of course I will.”

Letting go of Iwaizumi’s shirt, Oikawa relaxed, snuggling deeper under the blanket. Climbing around him, Iwaizumi settled down into the bed, pulling the blanket over himself. Under the blanket was like a furnace, Oikawa’s body overheating the entire space, but somehow it was comforting. Without letting himself think too hard about what he was doing, he shifted his head to just barely resting against Oikawa’s back. Oikawa didn’t react, so Iwaizumi let himself relax, and within moments he was back asleep.

“Good morning! The sun’s up and the day is ready to begin!” Iwaizumi groaned and shoved his face into his pillow, attempting to get away from that incessant cheerful voice, but it kept talking. “We have lots to do today, so better get started early.”

When Iwaizumi still didn’t respond, Oikawa began poking him on the back of his head. “You know I’m not going to stop until you say something, so you might as well respond.”

Jerking his head up, he glared at Oikawa. “Maybe if someone hadn’t woken me up at 3 in the morning, I wouldn’t be this tired. And shouldn’t you be hungover?”

Oikawa shook his head enthusiastically, practically bouncing up and down. “Nope, ever since college I don’t get hungover as long as I throw up, so I feel great!”

Reaching out an arm, Iwaizumi gave Oikawa a hard shove and he tumbled backward off the bed with a shout. When he popped his head up over the side of the bed, his hair stuck out in different directions before he shook it back into place. “What the hell was that for?”

“You’re annoying, that’s why,” Iwaizumi grumbled but threw off the covers. It wasn’t fair that Oikawa was the one to get hammered and not come home until three in the morning, but Iwaizumi was the one exhausted. Rolling off the opposite side of the bed, he stretched his arms up and yawned. At least he’d have plenty of time to wake himself up before his meeting. He grabbed some clothes and started towards the bathroom before Oikawa stopped him.

“Iwaizumi.” Iwaizumi turned around to Oikawa still sitting on the ground, legs brought up to his chest, and staring up at Iwaizumi. “I’m sorry about last night. You didn’t do anything wrong, I just took the game to mean something that it didn’t. It was stupid, and it’s my problem to figure out, not yours.”

“You already apologized last night.”

Oikawa shrugged. Curled up on the ground like he was, he looked so much smaller than Iwaizumi had ever seen, nothing like the actor he was on stage, who drew everyone’s eyes and knew it.“I know, I just wanted to make sure you know I mean what I said.” 

“Of course. It’s already forgotten.” He turned to walk into the bathroom but stopped, pulling his head back around the corner. “I’m sorry too, I shouldn’t have left you like that. And for the record, I don’t believe that you just lie to everyone. I said I’ve seen your fake smiles, but I know there are real ones too.

A smile slowly crept onto his face, until he looked brighter than the sun shining through the window, and just as real. “Of course you do, Iwa-chan. Anyways, there’s no way you could stay mad at me, I’m just too perfect of a person.”

He picked up a throw pillow from the ground and chucked it at Oikawa, but he couldn’t stop a grin from forming on his face as he shut the bathroom door behind him.

Within an hour they were back on the road, equipped with hotel coffee and about a dozen muffins. “Why did you need to grab so many muffins Oikawa? How are we even going to eat them all?”

“There’s no such thing as having too many muffins, they’re delicious,” Oikawa said, his voice muffled through a blueberry muffin. “I need to keep my energy up if I’m going to perform my best at the audition tonight.” He swallowed with difficulty, before shoving another one into his mouth.

Iwaizumi glanced over just as half the muffin spilled out of his mouth. “You’re actually disgusting.”

“I’m just eating, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Yes, there is,” Iwaizumi said, squinting in the bright sun. It was only ten, but it already felt hotter than hell on the highway, with no trees or shade to block the sun. Despite the heat, after devouring three more muffins Oikawa fell asleep, a jacket thrown over his face to block the sun.

For most of the trip, Iwaizumi drove while Oikawa slept, thinking over the meeting. Daichi had said it would be a directing job similar to what he’d done before, but Iwaizumi had started feeling doubts again. When he had finally agreed to the trip, he knew it was a good idea, but now that the day had arrived, he couldn’t help but be nervous. Oikawa would do well-- that was a given considering his talent-- but Iwaizumi’s skill wasn’t as obvious. It was there, no question, but would it be enough to convince this other director he was good enough?

Once they entered the city, Iwaizumi shook Oikawa awake at a stoplight. “You’re going to have to help me with directions now that we’re in the city, I have no idea where I’m going.”

“And I do?” Oikawa yawned, pulling out his phone.

“I know Daichi sent you the addresses, so put in the building you need to be at for the audition since it’s first.” 

Nodding, Oikawa began scrolling on his phone, looking for the email. “Are you sure he didn’t send it to you?”

“Yes, you’re the one who told him we’d be coming in the first place, so he sent you the details,” Iwaizumi said, tapping on the wheel with his thumb. “Now hurry up and find it, I’m about to start driving aimlessly around here.”

Coughing slightly, Oikawa set down his phone. “On a scale of one to ten, how good is your memory? It’s not a big deal, I’m just wondering.”

“I don’t know, an eight? Seven? Why does that matter right now, Oikawa?”

“Now, don’t be mad, but I think that I may have deleted the email from Daichi that told us where to go,” Oikawa said, attempting a smile. “But it’s okay because you have such a good memory that you remember the exact address that we need to be at, right?”

Stiffening, Iwaizumi slowed the car into a stop, pulling into a fifteen-minute parking space on the side of the road before turning to Oikawa. “You don’t know where we’re going?”

Oikawa shook his head slowly. “Not exactly.”

“So what you’re saying is we just spent three days driving all the way here, and you didn’t even think to save the addresses to the auditions, which is the entire reason that we came, so now we have no idea where to go.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Oikawa said slowly, and Iwaizumi dropped his head to the wheel. They were lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope y’all enjoyed!! a lot of jumping around time wise, but it’s gotta happen. and they are both just so stupid and really don’t know how to understand each other BUT at least no more yelling. just getting lost before their big day, of course.


	11. lost in los angeles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait guys! finals took a lot, but now that i’m done i’ll have lots of free time to work on this story. hope you enjoy!

“I just don’t understand why you would delete the email.”

“I’ve told you a million times, I thought he’d send one to you too! Why would he only give us one copy of the address, obviously we could lose that,” Oikawa reasoned, pacing next to the car. “Can you try Daichi again? Maybe he’ll respond this time.”

Iwaizumi leaned against the car, but he pushed off as Oikawa approached him, holding up his phone. “I already texted him three times and called him twice, so if I try again it’s going to give off a terrible impression. And I wouldn’t have to be worried about that if you just saved the stupid email!”

“I figured I forwarded it to you! Anyways you know I hate a cluttered inbox, so I had to delete it.”

“Yes, of course, a cluttered inbox, the worst thing in the entire world. Much worse than wasting a week on this stupid trip, and missing the opportunity of our lives!” Iwaizumi threw up his hands, then sighed. “Whatever, just get back in the car. It’s almost been fifteen minutes and we might as well drive around, maybe some address will jog our memories.”

They climbed back into the car and began driving, looking out the windows as they went. Traffic wasn’t too bad, considering the time of day, not that it mattered much. Iwaizumi had timed their trip so they would hit Los Angeles by 3:45, giving them time to finish getting ready and find the building for Oikawa’s audition at 4:30. 

It was a perfect plan, with plenty of room for mishaps and wrong turns, while still making it to their meetings with time to spare. That was the way Iwaizumi liked things to be. He was organized, and knew how to keep track of things on a schedule-- that was one of the reasons he was so successful in his directing career. Things like completely losing an address just didn’t happen to him. Unless, apparently, Oikawa was involved in his planning.

“Why don’t we at least stop and get changed,” Oikawa suggested, pointing out a chain restaurant. “Then at least if we remember the address or Daichi calls back we’ll be ready.”

Iwaizumi nodded, pulling into the parking lot and sighed. Oikawa was an idiot, but this wasn’t completely his fault. He shouldn’t have left the hotel last night without double-checking the address, let alone leave for the entire trip without knowing the location. It was such a rookie mistake, and he figured that kind of behavior was something of the past.

Reaching into the back, Iwaizumi grabbed two of Oikawa’s bags and threw them at him. “You go get changed first, I’ll wait in the car until you’re done,” he said, turning up the air conditioning. “It’s too fucking hot here to wait outside.”

“If you want, you can check my phone again for the email, maybe you’ll be able to find it.” Oikawa pulled his bags to him, and opened the car door, holding up his phone.

Iwaizumi grabbed it out of his hand, nodding. “You would be stupid enough to just miss it.” Oikawa opened his mouth to defend himself but Iwaizumi waved him off. “There isn’t enough time, just go get ready so I can when you're done.”

Surprisingly, Oikawa listened without further complaint, walking towards the restaurant. Iwaizumi opened up his phone and began scrolling through his emails. He tried searching Daichi’s name, but the only thing that came up was Oikawa’s original email saying who he was and that he was interested in the opportunity. How could he just delete it? Iwaizumi thought he’d just move it to another folder or something if the issue was a “cluttered inbox” but apparently not.

As Iwaizumi scrolled, a text alert popped up on Oikawa’s screen. Usually, he wouldn’t have looked, but since they were waiting on a response from Daichi, he immediately clicked it open. Stop being afraid and just do something. I’ve already told you nothing bad will happen no matter how it goes, so you just need to get over yourself. Take a risk.

Iwaizumi froze, reading the message again. It didn’t say who the text was from, just a number he didn't recognize. The response sounded like it was from the middle of a conversation, but Iwaizumi couldn’t figure out what. Oikawa was a lot of things, but Iwaizumi would never consider him afraid to do anything. He was always so confident, it seemed like he had never experienced failure and didn’t understand the concept. 

What could go so poorly that he wouldn’t even try? Iwaizumi knew it was wrong, but his thumb hovered above the screen to open up the rest of the text messages. It would be for just a second, a glance to understand what was going wrong. Maybe he could help with whatever Oikawa was dealing with. Before he could go down that road any further, Iwaizumi shook his head, closing the screen. No. He couldn’t justify his curiosity. If Oikawa had wanted his help, he would have just asked.

Before Iwaizumi could change his mind, the phone began to ring, with Daichi’s name on the screen. He fumbled with it slightly, before answering the call. “Hello, Daichi?”

“Hi, Oikawa! Sorry I didn’t see your texts until now.” Daichi’s voice was loud and distinct, but Iwaizumi could hear the sounds of several others talking in the background around him.

“It’s Iwaizumi, Oikawa’s not here right now.” He hesitated for a second but decided to get right to the point. “Uh, do you have the addresses for his audition? And my interview with the director you talked about? Sorry about this late call, we must have misplaced them without realizing.”

“Oh, hello Iwaizumi! Yes, of course, I sent the addresses to both of you, so you’ll have a better chance of keeping track of them this time,” he laughed, not unkindly, and Iwaizumi couldn’t help but crack a small smile in return when he saw the text pop up on his phone. “Sugawara will meet with you at 4:45, and it’s just across the street from Oikawa’s audition so you shouldn’t have any trouble. I planned to be there with you guys, but I have to be away for work until a bit later.”

Iwaizumi relaxed, sinking into his seat slightly. “That’s no problem at all, you’ve done so much just be giving us this opportunity.”

“Don’t mention it. You guys are good enough that you deserve it all on your own.” Daichi paused, and Iwaizumi could hear another voice in the background. “Sorry, I have to go now, but good luck! I’m sure you’ll both do great.”

They hung up after that, and the smile slowly slipped from Iwaizumi’s face. With all the drama over trying to figure out the address, he hadn’t paused to allow himself to become nervous about the interview yet. For most of the trip, he had been distracting himself with driving and Oikawa, but there was nothing else to block his way now. In a half an hour he would be meeting another director that could drastically change his future. Iwaizumi was confident in his abilities, but still, any new meeting gave him a bit of nervousness.

In front of him, Oikawa walked out of the restaurant, wearing his audition attire. From what Iwaizumi knew, the role was for a James Bondesque film, so of course, Oikawa was auditioning for the lead. In a crisp dark suit and neatly styled hair, he already looked the part, even as he shot his typical smirk to Iwaizumi when he approached.

“Don’t I look simply ravishing,” he said in a surprisingly good British accent, leaning up against the driver's side window.

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, pushing him out of the way as he opened the door. “Not at all. And you’d be happy to know that Daichi just saved your ass. He called me back and sent us the address. It looks like it’s pretty close to here, so we’ll make it in time for the audition.”

Iwaizumi hadn’t realized how worried Oikawa was until his face broke out into a grin, the tension leaving his face. “Fantastic Iwa-chan! Now go change out of those ratty sweatpants and we’ll be on our way.”

“You were wearing the same thing earlier,” Iwaizumi grumbled, but complied, grabbing his bag and changing into nice slacks and a button-up shirt. Since he had never met Sugawara, only heard of him from Daichi, he decided to add a tie as well. You could never tell in this business, but some were sticklers about appropriate attire, and he didn’t want to mess up his opportunity before they even spoke to each other.

When he returned to the car, Oikawa had hijacked the aux, blasting music loud enough to hear across the parking lot. “What the hell are you doing Oikawa,” Iwaizumi shouted over the music, reaching over to turn down the volume. “You can probably hear that inside the restaurant it’s so loud.”

“It’s my pre-audition playlist, I have to listen to it.” Oikawa reached over to turn up the music. “If I don’t then I won’t be ready.”

Iwaizumi entered the address into his phone for directions and pulled out of the restaurant. “So does that mean that you listened to,” he paused for a second, listening to the song, “Beyonce before you showed up to my audition?”

Oikawa nodded, before closing his eyes and singing along to the song. “Of course I did. I know you thought I was just naturally a genius, which I am, but this helps.”

“Whatever works, I guess,” Iwaizumi said, and tried to follow suit, focusing on the music instead of his nerves over the audition. Somehow it worked, at least a little bit, because in no time at all they were outside the building. It was a small building, with large windows allowing them to see the modern design of the entrance inside. 

They slowed to a stop in front, and Iwaizumi turned to Oikawa. “Are you ready? Do you need anything else?”

Reaching up, Oikawa straightened his jacket and cuffs, shooting Iwaizumi a smile. “Of course I’m ready. You really think I haven’t prepared?”

“No, no, I'm not surprised you’re ready,” Iwaizumi raised his hands defensively. “I’ve seen you audition before, I know exactly what you’re like.”

Grabbing his bag and phone, Oikawa moved to leave the car, but Iwaizumi grabbed his arm to stop him. “You’ll probably finish up before me, so just wait for me and I’ll text you when I finish. And you don’t need me to tell you this, but Oikawa,” he paused waiting for Oikawa to look at him, “You’re an amazing actor. I’m sure you’re barely even nervous, but if you are, just remember you’re gonna kill it, you always do.”

“Thanks, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa responded, his voice soft, before exiting the car. As Iwaizumi watched him enter the building, he couldn’t help but feel nervous for him. He didn’t know why; clearly, Oikawa wasn’t. Through the glass Iwaizumi could see him walk up to the front desk, making the woman there laugh with his comment. He was the same way when he auditioned for Iwaizumi’s show-- confident, collected, and overwhelmingly talented.

There was no need for Iwaizumi to feel this way, but the thought of being an actor during an audition was always nerve-wracking, especially when it was someone he cared about. In high school and college, he had tried acting, but he always preferred directing. His experiences on the other side of the audition process were one reason for that. Once he became the person who judged other's talent and performance, he couldn’t go back to acting.

Regardless of how he felt, he couldn’t worry over Oikawa now. He still had over twenty minutes until his interview, but he decided to head in early. The last thing he wanted was a repeat of earlier, and end up showing up late. Every show he was in, he was always the first one to show up to rehearsal, so better make his first meeting reflect that.

Iwaizumi circled the parking lot for a few minutes until he finally found a spot, and parked. Daichi was right when he said the buildings were just across the street from each other, so Iwaizumi gathered his things to walk. Before he left he opened the mirror in the car, fidgeting with his hair. He had learned long ago that his dark spiky hair did not like to be controlled, but he at least wanted it to look neat. With a final glance at the mirror, he stepped out of the car, locking it behind him.

Despite being the afternoon, the Los Angeles sun beat down on him, and Iwaizumi could already feel sweat forming under his nice jacket, and began hurrying down the street. He wasn’t used to it being this hot and showing up smelling like he had just finished a marathon while wearing a sweatsuit in the middle of the desert would not win him any points. 

The building was smaller than the one for Oikawa’s audition, but it had the same modern design. The cool air conditioning was a relief as he walked in, and he took a second to breathe it in as he scanned the room. It didn’t have a front desk, just a sign indicating where each business or employer was located, and he found Sugawara’s name on an office on the second floor.

He found the stairs to the right of the sign and entrance and began to make his way up. Now that he was in the building, he was more nervous than ever. When Oikawa and he had first met Daichi, he seemed like a nice guy, and he was friends with Noya, so Iwaizumi knew he wasn’t making up this whole opportunity. Still, he had never spoken to Sugawara, the other director who wanted to work with him, and Iwaizumi wondered what he’d be like. If he was anything like Daichi, he’d be intimidating, but Daichi turned out to be more welcoming after they spoke longer.

More importantly, Iwaizumi hoped he would be the right director for this job. What if Daichi had gotten everything wrong and they didn’t even want him anymore? Or if Sugawara thought he was completely wrong for the job, and never spoke to him again? What if this whole trip was a waste?

The door from the stairwell opened to a small hallway with three dark wood doors. Walking to the end, Iwaizumi found the right office at the very end and took a deep breath. It didn’t matter. He was here now, might as well make the most of it. If it didn’t work out, that would be fine. He would figure out a way to be okay with that because at least he tried. Brushing down his pants and straightening his jacket once more, he opened the door and walked inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can i just say,,,, i love iwaizumi overthinking things ah my fave. also mystery texted, any guesses on who it’s from? i’ve mapped out the rest of the story at this point, but i’ve been thinking about writing some moments/chapters from oikawa’s perspective, so let me know if y’all would be interested in seeing those ;)


	12. is this the directors office?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it has been awhile folks but here you go next chapter. All you suga fans you're welcome, we finally get to meet some more faves!!!

Iwaizumi didn’t know exactly what he expected a Hollywood director’s office to look like. Perhaps a modern look, with glass and monochrome colors, the entire place spotless. Or maybe the whole place designed as an homage to the classics, perfectly set up to remind of all the magic created in such a place. Whatever he expected, this was the exact opposite. A cozy armchair and sofa were set up on both walls, armed with cute pillows that looked homemade. Stacks of books, CDs, folders, random pieces of paper, and what looked like a pile of stuffed animals filled the room, with only a narrow path leading to the desk centered in the back. The wall behind the desk arched into an opening, which appeared to lead into another space behind it.

The desk was just as cluttered as the rest of the room, but Iwaizumi noticed a mug of tea sitting on it. It was half empty, but he could still see steam rising from the top. “Hello? Sugawara? This is Iwaizumi Hajime, I’m here for the interview.” 

For a moment it stayed quiet before rustling came from the back area. “Sorry, just a minute!” A voice followed the noise, and Iwaizumi nodded, looking around the room closer. Soon enough, a man came bustling out of the back, a stack of papers and a folder in his hand, with a bagel stuffed in his mouth. His silver hair was slightly disheveled, but he shook it out as he pulled the bagel from his mouth, a warm smile on his face. 

“Sorry again to keep you waiting. I was working on reorganizing the filing cabinets and I must’ve lost track of time. But I’m getting ahead of myself,” he said, sticking out his free hand for Iwaizumi to shake. “You must be the Iwaizumi that Daichi won’t stop talking about, it’s great to finally meet you.”

“You as well. I’ll admit Daichi didn’t say much about the opportunity, but what little I heard sounds very intriguing.”

Sugawara laughed, a broad smile breaking his face. “Typical. He can’t help but brag about everything he’s seen of you but forgets to clarify who I am and what I’m looking for. Honestly, I’m impressed my husband was able to convince you to come, but I’m glad he did. Why don’t you follow me into the back and we can talk some more about what I’m looking for.”

Iwaizumi couldn’t help but smile along with Sugawara as they walked to the back, sipping his tea as they talked. It usually took Iwaizumi a while to warm up to people, but there was something inherently unassuming about Sugawara’s easygoing smile, pastel blue sweater, and cozy office that made him instantly comfortable to be around. They walked towards the back, where another set of worn armchairs were set up next to the filing cabinets Sugawara had mentioned earlier.

“I’m sure you have plans for the day so let’s just get down to business. I’ve actually gone to see a few of the shows you’ve directed before, so I’m fully aware of how talented you are, and what you can do with theatre. That, on top of everything Daichi told me about your most recent show, has essentially confirmed you’re the person I need for this production. I’ll still need your official resume and answers to a few standard questions, but this interview is mainly a formality.

“I’m working with a company to make the movie adaptation of a musical. Now, I know many of these adaptations have been big disappointments for theatre fans, so I wanted to get someone on board who could help us create as similar to a performance done on theatre. Of course, there will be differences with the film, but I’m shooting for a similar vibe as the musical, and I think you can help with that.”

Sugawara continued talking over the production with Iwaizumi for about fifteen minutes, and Iwaizumi couldn’t help but get more and more excited as it went on. The position was perfect. This would give him the perfect opportunity to experiment with cameras, film directing, and Hollywood acting in general, while still operating with theatre, which he was familiar with. He wouldn’t have full control as he did with most of his recent shows, but Sugawara seemed like a great person to work with, and he was sure they’d get along.

“I know you’re going to need some time to think about this, and I can send you the official offer later tonight, as well as a printed copy. We are aware that your production just opened, but shooting won’t start until early next year, and we’d be happy to work with you until then. It would include some trips here for a few days before you can permanently relocate, but we’ll make sure it’s manageable so it won’t completely interfere with your current work.”

Iwaizumi nodded, rubbing his hands on his pants. “Everything we’ve talked about sounds fantastic. I will need some time to look over the details, but I’m sure I can let you know within the next couple of days.”

“That sounds great!” Sugawara smiled, again standing up. “And feel free to call me Suga if you’d like, everyone does, even my husband. Speaking of, did he mention the reservations to you?”

Scratching the back of his head, Iwaizumi grimaced, thinking back to the deleted email. “I think it was in an email he sent to Oikawa, but he tends to lose things so I’m not sure if we still have the details.”

“I’ll send them to you again. Daichi’s company is putting you two up in a hotel, and we’d love it if you came out to eat with us tonight.”

“That sounds wonderful, it would be great to get to know you two better,” Iwaizumi said, and he realized he meant it. He hadn’t known Daichi for long, Suga for even less, but Iwaizumi already enjoyed their company more than countless others he had met in the industry. Even better, it would give him a longer break from being alone with Oikawa’s annoying company, which he’d accept any day.

They exchanged information before Iwaizumi left, waving goodbye as he exited the office. He made his way out of the building quickly, all the while running through the meeting in his head. It was nothing that he had expected and had gone better than he could have dreamed. Deciding to go on the trip, the past three days of driving, the stress of getting lost before the interview-- all the hours of worrying seemed so worthless to him now. The “interview” he had been fretting about was more a job offer than anything. 

Iwaizumi’s steps slowed as he stepped into the blinding sun, raising a hand to shield his eyes. He had spent hours considering all aspects of the job but never had he thought about what happened after. Working on set. Moving to Los Angeles. Finishing up the show while working with Sugawara wasn’t the issue, as he had made it clear they would work with him to get it done. Leaving most of his friends behind would be tough, but he had done it before and would most likely do it again.

Everything seemed perfect except for one annoying, Oikawa shaped issue. The thought of leaving Oikawa-- not seeing him every day or working on the same set-- filled him with dread. Iwaizumi was used to being alone, and it had never been an issue for him, but the past few days had changed things. Sure, getting to know Oikawa better through the production was one thing, but now, after living with him and spending all his time with Oikawa’s constant presence, he couldn’t imagine going back.

If everything went well with Oikawa’s audition (and Iwaizumi was confident it would), they would both end up moving to LA, at least for a while. They wouldn’t be far apart, but would that mean anything? Iwaizumi had barely spent any time with Oikawa outside of work, the past few days notwithstanding. Did Oikawa even want to see him outside of work? Would he miss their time together the same way Iwaizumi could already tell he would?

“Iwa-chan! I’m over here!” Iwaizumi looked up to see Oikawa across the street, waving his hands above his head. As expected, he had a smirk on his face and tilted his head to the side as Iwaizumi approached.

“Why are you looking at me like that? And why are you waiting on the street, you know there’s air conditioning in the car,” he asked, jogging across the street to join Oikawa.

They began walking towards the car, and Oikawa raised his hands to the back of his head. “I just wanted to wait outside for you, be a friendly face after your interview.” At Iwaizumi’s unamused expression, Oikawa rolled his eyes, dropping his hands back to his side. “If you must know, I couldn’t find where you parked the car. Everything looks the same in this stupid parking lot. Whatever. Aren’t you going to ask me how my audition went?”

“You’re an idiot, you realize that. We’ve spent the past three days in this car, shouldn’t you know what it looks like by now?”

Oikawa scoffed, crossing his arms. “Yeah, I’ve been inside the car, not looking at the outside. That’s a completely different perspective. And of minor importance compared to my audition.”  
Iwaizumi glanced over at Oikawa, who was almost bouncing with energy, and realized he wouldn’t stop bringing up the audition until Iwaizumi asked. “How did the audition go, Oikawa?” He asked in a deadpan voice.

“Great, thanks for asking! You’ve seen me act so you know how magnificent I am, but I completely crushed that audition. I’m so perfect for it, you wouldn’t believe it. Well, you would believe it, I could be perfect for any role. And, the director had already seen me perform, plus Daichi sent a video from opening night in addition to one of my old performances, so they might only need one or two callbacks before they’ll cast the role.” He spun in a circle, unable to contain his energy any longer. “I’ve got this in the bag.”

At that, Iwaizumi couldn’t hold back a smile, ducking his head as they walked to either side of the car. He had seen the confidence and skill Oikawa had shown during the audition where they first met, but he had never thought about how he’d act afterward. Turns out, he was just as excited as anyone else. Seeing him perform was wonderful, but there was something about the way he was bursting to tell Iwaizumi everything about the audition that warmed Iwaizumi to the core.

“I’m not surprised by that,” Iwaizumi said, smiling at Oikawa as they got in the car. “It was the same with The Night Prince, we just couldn’t imagine anyone else once we saw you. Not that you should let that go to your head,” he quickly added.

Iwaizumi started the car, plugging in the address Suga had sent him to their hotel into his phone. After several moments of silence, he glanced over, noticing Oikawa staring at him. He sat expressionless, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. “What are you looking at?” Heat flushed to Iwaizumi’s cheeks at the attention, and he looked away, focusing on the road.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Oikawa shake his head before he began taking off his blazer and loosening his shoes. “Nothing. I just don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile before. I mean, I’ve seen you smile, just not at me. Because of me.” He let out a breath of air in a half-hearted laugh, reclining in his seat. 

Narrowing his eyes, Iwaizumi thought back, realizing Oikawa was right. Iwaizumi was the kind of person who liked to keep his emotions to himself for the most part, and didn’t have the most… active facial expressions. But still. He hadn’t realized in the several months they had known each other, he had never actually smiled at Oikawa. “I hadn’t realized, I apologize.”

Oikawa waved him off, but they made the rest of the drive in comfortable silence, sitting with their thoughts. After about fifteen minutes, they arrived at the hotel, which looked considerably nicer than any other motel or hotel they had stayed at previously, courtesy of Daichi. As he pulled into a parking spot and began to get out of the car, Oikawa sat up swiftly, smacking a hand to his forehead.

“I’m an idiot. How did your interview go? I never asked,” he said, following Iwaizumi to the trunk.

Iwaizumi smirked, handing Oikawa his luggage. “And you were mad at me for not asking, how inconsiderate. It went very well though, Sugawara is fantastic, and it seems like he would be great to work with. He offered me the job on the spot, I just need to look over the paperwork and the position a little further.”

“That’s fantastic!” Oikawa shouted, a genuine grin breaking across his face. He dropped his bags, jumping up to wrap his arms around Iwaizumi in a tight hug. For a second Iwaizumi froze, before following suit, leaning his head into Oikawa’s shoulder. Immediately, his senses upgraded to HD, and his surroundings flooded in at once. The familiar curl at the base of his neck, slightly damp with sweat. The scent of his fancy shampoo that somehow remained, refreshing in the hot Los Angeles air. The warmth and comfort radiating from his body, his arms holding Iwaizumi tight to his chest. Everything flashed through his head, an infinity of thoughts compressed into mere seconds before they abruptly ended, like a movie cut short, as Oikawa let go. “I didn’t doubt it for a second. I mean, you managed to handle me for the past months, that must show something for your talent.”

Iwaizumi nodded as he turned back to the trunk, not trusting himself to face Oikawa. The reaction surprised him-- at this point, he had slept in the same bed, seen Oikawa shirtless, spent hours only feet apart-- yet a simple hug rendered him speechless. He coughed lightly before continuing. “Yeah, and I think I’m going to accept. It’ll be a bit of a hassle to work with them while continuing our production, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it. Plus once I move it’ll be even easier, and I think it’s what I want.”

“You’re moving?” Iwaizumi had begun walking towards the hotel entrance, but paused, turning back towards Oikawa at his question. 

“I mean, how else would I direct the show? I’ll still be around to finish up most of the show, at least until Kindaichi can take care of it.” He lowered his eyes, turning back around towards the entrance. “You’ll be doing the same once you get the part, won’t you? Moving to LA?”

Oikawa jogged back up next to him, swinging his bags at his side. “Yes of course I will. I can’t act in the show from an entirely different city.” Elbowing Iwaizumi, he laughed. “We’ll be newcomers in the city together.”

Looking at Oikawa, Iwaizumi nodded, positive his expression mirrored the mirth in Oikawa’s eyes. “Yeah, we will,” he said before making his way into the hotel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahaha I know it may seem like I am forgetting about this story but I'm not, i promise i will be finishing this. After last chapter, a lot of you said you'd like to see some things from Oikawa's perspective. I think with the way the story is going I'm going to keep the single perspective BUT i'm definitely thinking of adding several bonus chapters at the end from Oikawa's perspective. It'll just work better with what I have planned for the rest of the story. I hope you guys will like them and as always, I hope you enjoy the chapter!!


	13. just dance baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a few notes for y'all! first, sorry this took a little longer than a week, it's a longer chapter tho so I hope that makes up for it. Also, I don't know if anyone noticed, but I finally put in an estimated chapter count! I think there's going to be 2 more after this one, it might end up being longer tho, I tend to add way more than I think there will be. Last, I'm going back through some of the old chapters and editing/updating them. It's not really going to change the story much, it's just a few extra details or rewording to make everything fit together better.
> 
> that's about all, hope you like the chapter!

“Will you stop fidgeting? Those people are starting to give us weird looks because of you,” Iwaizumi said, rolling his eyes as he looked down towards his phone. After getting their room, showering, and getting ready, they followed Suga’s directions to the restaurant they were eating at. It was a nice Vietnamese place, and Iwaizumi could feel his mouth watering from the smell wafting towards them from the back. They had decided to get there early—hoping to avoid another close call—so they waited at the front for Daichi and Sugawara to arrive.

“It just smells so good Iwa-chan, how do I not eat it? We could order something quick before they got here, they don’t even need to know—”

“No.” Iwaizumi cut him off before he could continue. “They were nice enough to ask us out to dinner, we’re not just going to be rude and start without them.”

Oikawa sighed, flopping down into a chair and pulling out his phone. “Yeah, but they shouldn’t have picked such a nice-smelling restaurant, it’s not fair.”

“Get over yourself,” Iwaizumi countered, sitting down next to him. They sat in silence for a while, waiting for the others, until Iwaizumi remembered the text from earlier in the day. Stop being afraid and just do something. Take a risk. Realistically, he knew it wasn’t his place to ask, but after all the time they had spent together, he wanted to help Oikawa in any way he could. “What were you texting about earlier?”

Tilting down his phone, Oikawa looked up, furrowing his eyebrows. “I didn’t text you today. Are you talking about the ones to Daichi? I sent him all kinds of messages so he would respond, and I'd do it again.”

Iwaizumi shook his head, before looking away while rubbing the back of his neck. “No not those. Earlier, while you were changing into your audition outfit, I was looking for the email and a text popped up. I don’t know who it was from, but it was something about taking a risk or something.”

“Did you open up the messages?” Oikawa’s fidgeting had stopped, and his voice lowered, suddenly serious.

“No, of course not, it’s your business. I just was wondering if it was anything I could help with.”

Laughing, Oikawa stood up, stretching his arms above him. “No, I don’t think it’s something that you can help me with.”

A warm flush flooded Iwaizumi’s cheeks, but he kept going. “You don’t know that for sure. If you told me I might be able to help more than you think. I’m useful for more than just directing and driving you around.”

At that, Oikawa turned towards him, eyes wide in surprise. Before he could say anything, Iwaizumi saw Daichi and Sugawara enter the restaurant. Standing up, he waved them over, a smile on his face. If Oikawa didn’t trust him enough to help with his problems, that was fine. He didn’t have to. Iwaizumi should never have brought it up in the first place.

“Hi, guys!” Suga said cheerfully, waving as they approached. Oikawa shot him a final glance before turning to the couple, smiling brilliantly.

“You must be Suga, Iwaizumi told me all about you from the interview,” Oikawa responded, reaching for a handshake, but Suga bypassed it, hugging him instead. Laughing, Oikawa pulled away, and Iwaizumi could see his smile transform into a genuine—albeit surprised—grin.  
Daichi laughed, shaking Iwaizumi’s hand. “It’s good to see you guys again, I’m glad we could do this.”

“Me too, and thanks for picking the restaurant. This one,” Iwaizumi jabbed a thumb in Oikawa’s direction, “has been whining since we got here about how hungry he is since it smells so good, so I’m sure it’ll be delicious.”

Gasping, Oikawa raised a hand to his mouth. “I was not whining, I was complimenting the place. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Sure, sure, whatever you say Shittykawa.”

After checking in with their reservation, they were led to their seats, and Iwaizumi slid into the booth after Oikawa. Immediately after sitting, Oikawa poked him in the side, and Iwaizumi winced away. “What the hell was that for?”

“You know it’s not nice to make fun of me, I have too much power,” Oikawa said, grinning as he crossed his arms. “I’ll just keep poking you for the entire drive back and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

Raising his eyebrows, Iwaizumi reached over and smacked him in the arm. “All I have to do is leave you at the side of the road and you’re done for. You don’t have any power.”

Huffing, Oikawa turned away, facing the wall, and Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, turning to the couple across from him. They looked to be just finishing up their conversation, a light smile on Suga’s face. There was something so familiar in the way they looked at each other as if they knew exactly what the other was thinking. Even the way their hands were casually laced on the table screamed comfort. If he hadn’t known, it was clear from this dinner these two were together and had been for a while.

“How long have you two been together?” Iwaizumi asked, ignoring Oikawa’s still pouting figure next to him.

Daichi smiled at Suga, before looking up to Iwaizumi. “We’ve known each other since college, but we didn’t start dating until we graduated. Back then we played on the same volleyball time, which is how we first met.”

“Yeah but this one,” Sugawara elbowed Daichi, “was too worried about our teammates and our friendship to do anything. It took me moving in and practically throwing myself at him to finally convince him I wanted a relationship. Luckily it worked out in the end. It was just a coincidence that we both ended up in the entertainment industry, but it helps out since we understand each other's work lives better. I’m sure you guys get that too, especially with working on the same show.”

“What do you mean?” Out of the corner of his eye, Iwaizumi could see Oikawa turn back to the table at Suga’s comment, equally as confused as he was.

Suga looked at Daichi, confused, before continuing. “I just meant that it must be nice working at the same place as your boyfriend, to help understand each other’s schedules and everything.”

“We’re not together.” Oikawa cut into the conversation, and Iwaizumi’s face flushed red. “I know, Iwaizumi’s so mean to me you’d think I must be getting some, but no. We’re just coworkers.”

Despite his easy-going response, Iwaizumi could see the bouncing of his leg under the table and the red tips of his ears. Oikawa was just as embarrassed as he was, a fact he oddly took comfort in.

“Oh, I’m sorry, that’s my fault. I just assumed from when I met you two and from the way Noya talked about you…” Daichi trailed off. “Either way, my apologies.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Iwaizumi said, mustering up as genuine of a laugh as he could. He was going to kill Noya when they got back. “So you guys met playing volleyball? I know Oikawa also played in college, did you ever run into each other?”

At that, they began discussing their college days, giving Iwaizumi a few moments to his thoughts. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn’t help but be happy with the question. Sure it was embarrassing, considering how far it was from the truth, but the thought that someone could picture them happy, together, in a relationship… it gave him hope. Not a lot. Not nearly enough to do anything. But it was getting harder not to think that way.

It had only been a few days since he realized how he felt about Oikawa, yet somehow, the longer they spent together, the more it spiraled into something deeper, more powerful. Something so big he wasn’t even ready to think about what it meant. All he knew was that after hearing the idea— him and Oikawa, in a relationship, understanding each other in a way no one else could— he didn’t know how he’d be able to just let it go.

This had never been an issue before. Going on dates, asking someone out, even being in a relationship— it was all things Iwaizumi had done before and was familiar with. But something about Oikawa was different. He was stupid, annoying, and selfish, and Iwaizumi couldn’t get him out of his head. But he couldn’t do anything about it, no matter how much space Oikawa took up in his mind.

He worked with Oikawa, was his boss even, and Oikawa hadn’t shown an ounce of interest towards him. Sure, Oikawa flirted with him, teasing him constantly, but that was just the way he was. Iwaizumi wasn’t about to delude himself into thinking it was special. And he wasn’t about to ruin the shaky friendship they had formed by asking him out.

So why couldn’t he just forget Suga’s comment?

“What about you, Iwaizumi?” Daichi’s question brought him back to the present as he jerked his head up.

“Sorry, what about me? I missed the question.”

Suga smiled, waving him off. “Don’t worry about it. We were just asking how you like Los Angeles so far.”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought about it.” Iwaizumi paused, considering. He supposed if he planned to move here for the foreseeable future, he should figure out if he actually liked the city, but somehow the thought hadn’t crossed his mind since they got here. “It’s… hot.”

Laughing, Daichi nodded and Oikawa rolled his eyes. “Your way with words is inspiring, Iwa-chan. And such astute observations as well.”

“Oh shut up.”

“He’s right,” Daichi said, “That was the first thing I cared about too when I moved here. But it’s much better than the freezing winters most places further north have, so it’s a plus.”

“I’d say.” Suga nodded his head in agreement. “I hated having to walk to work, the snow made it unbearable.” Grinning, he raised a hand to the back of his head, smiling. “But it did help me get closer to Daichi. Everyone wants someone to keep warm with during the winter months.”

Iwaizumi smiled slightly, noticing the faint blush on Daichi’s cheeks as he swatted Suga lightly on the arm. Suga was such a nice guy, he could tell that from the moment they met at the interview, but he hadn’t expected him to be so forward with Daichi, especially in front of others.

Leaning his head back, Oikawa let out a sharp bark of laughter, before leaning forward. “Well, you really are Mr. Refreshing aren’t you,” Oikawa followed, voicing Iwaizumi’s thoughts. “You seem like just a nice guy, but I can tell you’re more than that. Certainly fun in bed.”

“You idiot, you don’t say that to someone!” Iwaizumi hit him in the arm again, and Oikawa bounded back in surprise.

“What? It was a compliment.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Suga said, smiling as he waved them off. “It’s nice to hear someone speak so honestly in front of me. It rarely happens in the entertainment industry, so I appreciate it.”

“See! He understands,” Oikawa said, slumping forward and resting his head on his arms.

Rolling his eyes, Iwaizumi gave Oikawa one last slap on the head before turning back towards Sugawara and Daichi. Regardless of Suga’s reaction, Oikawa really was an idiot.

—————————————————

After eating and talking for over an hour, they decided to head to a bar to keep the night going a little longer. Usually, Iwaizumi hated going out, but Suga and Daichi were great company, and he wanted to spend more time with them. It was also nice getting to know them. By the time he moved to LA, he’d be starting a new job right away, and most likely wouldn’t have time to make many new friends. Getting to know them now, even if it was only a bit, would go a long way for him later on. 

“Aren’t you excited, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa said, linking arms with Iwaizumi as he skipped past. “Our first night out in the new city!”

Pulling his arm away, Iwaizumi shook his head. “Considering how our last night out went, I’m just hoping this will be better.” 

Turning, Iwaizumi began to walk faster to catch up to Suga and Daichi, but not before noticing a slight blush to Oikawa’s face. Why? What did he have to be embarrassed about by then? He’d already apologized for getting angry, so at this point, Iwaizumi figured Oikawa was comfortable enough around him. What was it?

Maybe he wanted to kiss you too.

With a start, Iwaizumi stopped in his tracks. What? He had resigned himself to the fact that Oikawa did not have feelings for him in return. It wasn’t a question. So why wouldn’t that stupid voice in the back of his head just shut up?

At his rough stop, Oikawa had passed him, turning just enough for Iwaizumi to see his face. His stupid perfect hair, his annoying smirk, his eyes that looked just like chocolate in certain lighting—that wasn’t it. But the way he got flustered by no one else but Iwaizumi, how he responded to his insults in just the same way; as long as that happened, Iwaizumi knew he would never be able to shut up that pesky little voice. It was only getting louder. And maybe a part of him, a small, hopeful part of him, didn’t want it to stop.

“Hurry up, Iwa-chan, or we’ll leave you behind,” Oikawa called, turning back around. “You’ll have to fend for yourself in the scary new city.”

“It’s not like that would scare anyone but you. I don’t lose my directions.”

“Can’t you just let that go!”

“No. Never.”

Amid their bickering they arrived at the bar, following closely behind Suga and Daichi. It was on the smaller side, and less flashy than others they had passed on the way, but Iwaizumi immediately realized why Suga wanted to go. Despite the less than impressive exterior, the inside was bright, and he could almost taste the energy in the air. Most of the space was cleared of tables and chairs, besides a few on the side, and the rest open space. It was dimly lit, with flashing lights above them. The whole style was dark yet modern, and much nicer than the outside hinted towards it being.

Dancing. Suga had taken them dancing.

“Don’t even start Iwaizumi, I can see that look on your face.” Iwaizumi turned, surprised by Suga’s comment. “I'm aware I haven’t known you for long but I can already tell you want to leave but you’re not allowed. You’re going to have fun.”

Grabbing his arm, Suga dragged him towards the bar. He shot a glance towards Daichi, but all he did was shrug, following behind. Great. His only source of backup was too whipped to be of any use for him.

Oikawa, of course, had no issue with their new venue and bounded past them excitedly. They approached the bar, immediately ordering a slew of drinks. Iwaizumi watched with a mix of shock and awe as Suga slammed back two shots of tequila, one after the other, barely flinching in between.

“You could give Noya a run for his money,” Iwaizumi said, taking a sip out of his whiskey. “But I’d expect that from him.”

Suga grinned, leaning against Daichi. “Most of my time in college was spent taking care of Noya and the rest of them. I was definitely the mom of the group, so no one does expect it out of me. But once I only had this one to watch out for,” he poked Daichi in the chest, “I decided to let go. What’s life without a little risk anyway?”

“I wouldn’t know myself.” Iwaizumi found himself watching Oikawa as he stood behind Daichi, frantically attempting to wave down the bartender.

“That’s going to have to change.” He looked up to see Daichi holding out another drink for him. “I know you have this serious vibe going on, but if you’re going to move to LA, you’ll have to get used to going out like this, at least some of the time. It took me a while to get used to it, but I promise, it can be fun.”

Iwaizumi stared at the outstretched hand, hesitating for a moment, before finishing his drink and grabbing the other. The burn in his throat barely bothered him, for once. Instead, it felt like a welcome to Los Angeles, to film, to everything that came next. “I guess we’ll see about that.”

Drinks were handed to him, in a seemingly never-ending flow. They had one for Daichi, for finding them at the show and bringing them here. One for Suga and their new partnership. One for the man Oikawa noticed in the crowd, who oddly resembled Danny Devito. Each toast was weirder than the last until Iwaizumi started to believe Daichi’s claim.

“Guys,” Suga yelled, maybe to be heard over the loud music, but most likely to make his slurred speech understandable. “It’s time to dance, what are we doing here?”

He took the last sip of his drink, slamming it down onto the counter, before latching onto Daichi and Iwaizumi’s arms, just like when they first entered the bar. Usually, Iwaizumi would put up a fight, but tonight he felt good. Happy. Even his clouded brain knew it wasn’t just from the alcohol. Tonight felt like a weight lifted off his shoulders—all the anxiety and fear over the trip was simply gone.

Oikawa clapped his hands, grabbing ahold of Iwaizumi’s other arm, and soon they were part of the crowd. Immediately, Suga, Oikawa, and even Daichi started dancing, but Iwaizumi merely stood, bouncing on his toes slightly. Within seconds, Oikawa spun back over to him, grabbing onto his shoulders laughing. His hair was swept around his face, but he looked freer than Iwaizumi had seen in days. 

“You owe me a dance from the cast party,” he shouted, dropping his arms as he bobbed up and down energetically. “I never had time to force you, but tonight you’re going to dance.”

“Alright.”

“What?” Oikawa froze, tilting his head to the side. “You’re just going to agree that easily?”

“Yes,” Iwaizumi answered, not bothering to offer up an explanation, and began to move.

Iwaizumi had never been a good dancer. He had never tried. During college parties or nights out with Noya and Kuroo, he always stayed to the side if he could. Whenever they did drag him to dance, he mostly stood between the hoards of people surrounding him, counting down the minutes until he could leave.

Tonight was different. The music was loud and electric, the bass vibrating to his core. He let it fill him up until he was nothing but sound, then let his body go. Up and down he jumped, raising his hands above his head and moving to the music. To his side, Suga laughed, a sound of pure joy as he did the same. Oikawa followed, his long limbs moving with a grace that shouldn't have been possible with all the alcohol they had consumed. Throwing his head back, the neon beams of light streaked across the room, blinding his eyes, but he didn’t care. He just danced.

Time passed, song after song until Iwaizumi couldn’t keep track of how long they had been dancing. They had worked their way deeper into the crowd, surrounded by others on all sides. A few feet away, he noticed Daichi and Suga, dancing close with eyes only for each other. He looked away, unwilling to invade their private moment, but just like before, he couldn’t help but want something like that. The closeness they had.

Maybe it was that thought, the desire for someone to be with that set his head on fire when he finally found Oikawa. He had wandered a bit away, dancing fluidly with strangers on the floor. It would have been fine—Iwaiuzmi would have been fine—if it weren’t for the way the blond stranger moved towards Oikawa, running a hand over his arms. Or the way Oikawa didn’t seem to care, laughing as he grabbed his arm to twirl. Or the way Iwaizumi could see him move closer, reaching the loops on Oikawa’s pants.

It should have been fine, but it wasn’t. Iwaizumi wasn’t fine. He was used to Oikawa’s energy, the way he attracted anyone in his path. The way he drew all eyes to him on the stage. Iwaizumi loved that about him, his arrogance and stupid charisma, but here, at this bar and in this city, everything felt wrong.

The lights above them turned into spotlights, the pounding beat the orchestra, and the open floor a stage. He watched Oikawa, dancing and laughing with this random stranger who wasn’t Iwaizumi, and he wasn’t fine. Standing backstage had always been his job, but suddenly, it wasn’t good enough anymore.

Before he even noticed his body moving he was next to Oikawa, grabbing his arm and dragging him away from that stupid, wrong man. From behind him came a shout of indignation, but he ignored it, only pulling him deeper into the crowd.

“Iwa-chan, what are you doing? I was having a very fun time with that nice man over there, I don’t see why we had to leave.”

“You said you wanted to dance with me. So let's dance.” Iwaizumi finally let go, spinning around to face Oikawa. His perfect hair was slightly matted, damp with sweat around the edges, but his eyes were bright and his cheeks flushed from moving.

He looked around, ignoring Iwaizumi. “I don’t see Daichi and Suga, where did they run off to? Probably sneaking off to fuck in the bathroom, I can tell Suga would be the kind to—”

Oikawa’s words cut off as Iwaizumi grabbed his shirt, pulling him close until they were mere inches apart, their whole bodies aligned. Usually, Oikawa was slightly taller, but Iwaizumi yanked him down until they were eye level, forcing Oikawa’s eyes to his. “I don’t care. I don’t care about that stupid blonde, I don’t care where they are. Right now your eyes are on me. Just me.”

Iwaizumi wasn’t the star. He wasn’t meant to be looked at and admired. He didn’t have adoring fans or audiences applauding his work. But right now all he felt was this desperate need to have all of Oikawa—his eyes, his mind, his body—only focused on him. It was more important than breathing, and he didn’t think he would last if Oikawa just walked away.

He didn’t. Instead, he nodded slowly, dangerously serious, and they began to dance.

It wasn’t like before when all that mattered was that he kept moving, laughing, and joking with the others. Now all he could feel was the heat of Oikawa’s eyes as they danced across his body, setting a fire to every place they reached. He forgot about that man who had bothered him so much, and he forgot about that stupid idea of staying professional that still lingered in the back of his alcohol addled mind. Nothing else mattered but Oikawa.

His whole body radiated energy, but they remained apart, mirroring each other's movements. Back and forth they went, responding to each other perfectly in sync as they danced, if it could even be called dancing. It was good, better than good, but it just wasn’t enough.

Oikawa must've thought the same because he reached around Iwaizumi’s waist, pulling their bodies flush against each other until Iwaizumi could feel every inch of the man opposite him. He reached out, trailing his hands across Oikawa’s chest, feeling the muscle beneath them. Slowly, they moved even closer, perfectly in time with the music, and Iwaizumi bit his lip as their hips rolled together. Oikawa pressed against him, eager and taunting, and Iwaizumi suppressed a moan as he felt himself grow harder.

Their faces were apart, but they breathed each other's air, and finally, Oikawa saw only him. Iwaizumi’s eyes fell to his lips as a bead of sweat dripped down Oikawa’s face. Instead of wiping it away, he merely flicked out his tongue, capturing it before it fell, and Iwaizumi gasped, unable to take it any longer. Without thinking, Iwaizumi leaned forward, closing the gap between them and kissed him.

It was nothing that Iwaizumi had imagined and everything he wanted, but he didn’t have time to think about that because Oikawa was right there and he was kissing him and his lips were soft and he could feel every part of Oikawa’s body as they remained tight against each other, without any space between and he—

He wasn’t kissing Iwaizumi back.

Iwaizumi pulled away, stepping back as quickly as he could. In front of him, Oikawa was motionless, his mouth slightly open, and cheeks flushed. He raised his eyes to Iwaizumi but he grimaced looking away quickly. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” he said, swallowing tightly. “I’m going to go find Daichi.”

He didn’t stick around any longer, turning towards the bar as he moved his way back through the dancers. Iwaizumi could imagine it perfectly—the mix of pity and disgust on Oikawa's face—and ignored Oikawa calling his name. As he shoved his way through the crowd he could barely think, barely speak, and only felt his heart slowly collapse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the long awaited kiss! I've really dragged this out for a longggg time and I know I'm sorry for ending it like this, it just had to happen, but I promise things will get better soon. poor iwa tho i do NOT like to hurt him because he deserves the world. but a comment with your thoughts on the chapter!


	14. how to live with your mistakes

It took a few minutes to make his way out of the group of partiers, but Iwaizumi didn’t care. It didn’t matter. What mattered was how stupid he was, and how Oikawa probably wouldn’t even want to talk to him anymore. He had asked Oikawa to dance, and they had been dancing, but that didn’t mean Oikawa wanted to kiss him. No, Iwaizumi had let himself be consumed by alcohol and the allure of his attraction, without even considering Oikawa’s feelings.

Everything was ruined and it was his fault.

Maybe it would be fine. Maybe Oikawa was so drunk that he wouldn’t even remember what had happened by tomorrow. Maybe Iwaizumi could say it was the alcohol, not his actual desire. A kiss could mean anything. It didn’t mean Iwaizumi had feelings or wanted to be in a relationship. It just meant at that moment, Iwaizumi had wanted to kiss someone, and Oikawa had happened to be there.

Iwaizumi sighed, finally shoving his way past the dancers. That was unlikely. As much as he had grown to know Oikawa since they met, Oikawa had learned just as much about him. Iwaizumi hadn’t had any type of relationship with anyone during that time, and he was sure Oikawa was aware of that. At this point, all he could hope for was that Oikawa would just ignore that it happened, and he could pretend everything was normal.

At the bar, Daichi and Suga were nowhere to be found, so Iwaizumi walked towards the entrance. The cool night air blew through the open doors, a welcome feeling compared to the intense heat of the bar. As his body adjusted to the temperature, his sweat slowly froze under the air, sending a shiver down his spine. Ever since he figured out how he felt, Iwaizumi had been determined to get rid of this inane crush before it became an issue, but clearly, it was too late for that.

[Iwaizumi]: Are you awake?

Pulling out his phone, he sent a quick text before leaning back, staring at the sky. In the city, he could barely see any stars, but the moon was bright through the night sky. He couldn’t help but notice how alone it looked here--the only brightness surrounded by a sea of nothing. Just emptiness.

His phone buzzed, and pulled it up, checking the text.

[Noya]: of course sleep is 4 the weak

[Noya]: asahi fell asleep already and im bored :(

[Noya]: but how’s hollywood baby??

[Noya]: did you see someone famous? that’s why ur txting me isn’t it

Of course, that’s the first thing Noya would think of. He was a low profile celebrity himself, being featured on Broadway for several shows, but that didn’t matter to him. He would never consider himself that way.

[Iwaizumi]: No, it’s something else.

[Noya]: what is it??

[Noya]: did pretty boy get you lost or somethin

[Noya]: i had a feeling he would

Iwaizumi hesitated for a moment before typing out the message, quickly pressing send. At this point, he didn’t think there was anything left for him to screw up, so what was the harm in asking for help?

[Iwaizumi]: I kissed Oikawa

Seconds later, his phone began to ring, and Iwaizumi sighed. He hadn’t planned on having to talk to someone, but he knew Noya wouldn’t stop calling until he heard Iwaizumi’s voice, and an explanation. “Hello.”

“Oh my god, how did this happen,” Noya screamed through the phone, and Iwaizumi could picture him jumping up and down. “I have to say I knew it, Noya knows all. Of course he likes you no one has to stay late at the theatre that many nights in a row. Was it any good? I bet it was. Wait why are you talking to me shouldn’t you be with him? What are you doing you idiot?”

His words flew by in a flurry of questions and energy, each one deflating Iwaizumi more than the last. “He didn’t kiss me back.”

The line went quiet for a moment, before Noya spoke, at a decidedly lower volume, “I’m sorry Iwaizumi. Do you want to talk about it?”

“I just… We went to a club, this bar, and we were drinking. A lot, we were drinking a lot. And then Suga said we should dance and you haven’t met him but when Suga suggests something you just do it. So we danced, and then I danced with him, and I just,” Iwaizumi trailed off. He had read the signs wrong. Oikawa blushing when he got too close, wanting to share a bed with him, laughing with him. Dancing with him. “I thought he liked me. It was stupid, but… he felt right. But I guess I was wrong.”

“Are you okay?”

“I just don’t know how this will affect us. He probably doesn’t even want to look at me, let alone drive back across the country with me. I probably made him uncomfortable too, how does he forgive me after that? I’m sure he just wants me--”

“Iwaizumi.”

“--to go away, but I can’t do that, we still have another night here. We shared a bed, did I tell you that? Not tonight--”

“Iwaizumi.”

“--but a few nights ago. That’s when I first realized actually. I wish I hadn’t, then we never would’ve gotten into this big mess in the first place and Oikawa would be able to look at me. And we have to work together for several months how is that supposed to--”

“IWAIZUMI!” Noya’s voice blasted through the phone speaker, and Iwaizumi jerked his head back in surprise. Once it was clear Iwaizumi had stopped talking Noya continued, in a significantly quieter tone. “You’re drunk right now, and I know you’re worried about Oikawa and how he is but I’m asking about you. Are you alright?”

“I...” He hadn’t thought about it. Was he? Yes, he had been stupid. Yes, he shouldn’t have kissed Oikawa. Yes, that was all true, but the worst part was he no longer had hope. Before Iwaizumi kissed Oikawa, he was living in his head. He hadn’t done anything, so he couldn’t do anything wrong. He couldn’t be hurt. At the time, that had seemed like the hardest thing in the world-- maintaining normalcy. But this was much harder. Realizing everything that he felt towards Oikawa, everything that had been building since the moment that they met in that first audition-- it was all one-sided. “No. I don’t think I am.”

Over the speaker, Iwaizumi could hear another muffled voice and a quick response. When he came back into focus, Noya’s voice was quiet. “What do you need?”

“I just need to be back,” Iwaizumi said. “We’re driving back tomorrow, so I’ll just apologize and go back to normal. I can pretend until we get back.”

“I can drive there right now and come get you. Or fly. I could fly and take you back with me, he doesn’t even have to know. It’ll be like kidnapping and you won’t have to do anything.”

Iwaizumi laughed weakly. “Thanks for the idea, but I’ll be okay. I think I’m going to head back to the hotel now, but I’ll talk to you later. Thanks for listening.”

“Anytime, Iwa. I’ll be here anytime you need it. Let me know if you need anything later, and call me tomorrow either way.”

Agreeing, Iwaizumi hung up the phone, leaning back with a sigh. He never thought he’d be the heartbroken type. He never had been before. All of his past boyfriends broke up with him-- they didn’t like how much he worked, or his dedication to directing, or his passion to always do more. Some part of him thought it might always be that way, and Iwaizumi was okay with that. His work came first. But Oikawa understood it. He stayed just as late or later. He loved to act, loved theatre, loved everything that came along with it. There was finally someone who understood, but--as was now painfully obvious--that didn’t mean he wanted the same things in other areas of life.

A drunk couple staggered out of the entrance, and Iwaizumi watched them go by, laughing as they leaned into each other. He should at least look for Daichi and Suga before he left, but the last thing he wanted to do was stay in this bar any longer. As he walked back towards into entrance, he swayed slightly, the alcohol still making its way through his system, but he was able to find his way back towards the bar.

Leaning against the bar, mainly to support himself, he scanned the room. Luckily for him, Sugawara and Daichi were standing towards the edge of the crowd, holding drinks. Maybe Oikawa’s earlier prediction was right, because they stood near the restrooms, looking significantly more flustered than earlier. Unfortunately, Oikawa was already talking to them, facing away from where Iwaizumi stood and gesturing his arms wildly.

The distance was short, but it felt longer, each step weighed down with dread. All he needed to do was say goodbye and he’d be fine. No other interaction. Nothing. Iwaizumi stood up straight, running a hand through his hair and brushing off his shirt. He’d been around actors long enough that he could put on a show for a minute or two. Just long enough for him to finally be alone back at the hotel.

Daichi noticed him first, looking up and waving. Iwaizumi managed a small smile back, before Suga and Iwaizumi followed suit, pausing their conversation to look up at him. He stayed focused on Daichi, but he could feel Oikawa’s eyes burning into him. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t here for Oikawa. Not anymore. 

“What’s up Iwaizumi! Oikawa said he lost you so we thought you left or something,” Suga said, his words slurring together as he leaned into Daichi. “What happened to you?”

“Just needed some fresh air. I had a great time tonight, it was nice getting to know you two better, but I think I need to head in for the night.” He forced a laugh, looking around the room. “Too much to drink I guess. Thanks for tonight.”

To Iwaizumi’s surprise, Daichi reached over, pulling him into a hug. Just like Suga, his hug was warmth and comfort, and Iwaiumi let himself relax into it for a few seconds before pulling away. “It’s no problem. I’m really glad we went out, and I can’t wait for you to move here,” he winked, “when you get the job. It’ll be great having you here.”

Suga followed suit, saying some type of goodbye, but Iwaizumi could barely hear it. Oikawa was right next to him, but he couldn’t look up at him, didn’t want to look at him, couldn’t look even if he wanted to because right now his presence was too big and too much for--

“Iwaizumi?” A tap on his shoulder brought his focus to the present. “I was just asking if you need me to call you two a cab or something to get back.”

Narrowing his eyebrows to focus on Daichi, he shook his head. “I can get myself a ride, don’t worry about it, and Oikawa is staying later, I’m sure he’d like to spend more time with you two.”

“Really?” Suga looked towards Oikawa expectantly, but thankful he stayed quiet. Iwaizumi didn’t know how he would react to hearing Oikawa talk or seeing his face up close again, and he didn’t want to find out. “Didn’t you just say how you were thinking of heading out as well? Aren’t you at the same hotel?”

Before Suga could go on any further, or Oikawa could answer, Iwaizumi cut in. “I’m sure that was a mistake. Thank you both for the night.”

Turning on his heel, Iwaizumi sped towards the exit, throwing a half-hearted wave behind him. As nice as Suga and Daichi were, he needed to be gone now, before anything else happened. Of course, Oikawa made that difficult. He made everything difficult. Behind him, Iwaizumi heard Oikawa say a hurried goodbye before footsteps sounded next to him. 

Iwaizumi kept forward, refusing to look to the side, but it was more than just the noise that let him know Oikawa was there. In their time together, Iwaizumi had started to pick up on his presence, his energy. It was like something radiated off Oikawa that was unmistakable, and could only belong to him. As much as he knew he shouldn’t, all Iwaizumi wanted was to lean into that presence, but he couldn’t. Not now. 

“We need to talk.” No. Oikawa probably just wanted to tell him to stay away and never come back, but that wasn’t something Iwaizumi was ready to hear. He probably would never be ready, but he would have to be. After all, he was the one to get himself into this mess. He knew better than anyone, but that didn’t mean he needed to hear someone else remind him.

Ignoring him, Iwaizumi only walked faster, staring at the ground beneath him. “Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi, please.” An iron grip around his hand stopped him in his tracks, and he closed his eyes. No. Not this again. “Iwaizumi, please just look at me.”

He hadn’t planned on turning around, hadn’t planned on talking to him, but how could he ignore Oikawa--proud, confident Oikawa-- begging him to pay attention. Iwaizumi spun around and he was back. Oikawa across from him, his sharp jaw and chocolate eyes that were serious in a way Oikawa rarely showed. His lips, perfect and full, that wouldn’t move. But what did it matter? Staying away from Oikawa was like avoiding the stars in the sky. He couldn’t do it even if he wanted to, and seeing Oikawa again only confirmed it. Iwaizumi couldn’t lose him. He couldn’t.

“Oikawa, can we just forget this ever happened. It was stupid, I was drunk, and I just got caught up in the moment. It didn’t mean anything so let’s just forget about it.” Every bone in his body screamed against the lies pouring out of his mouth, but it didn’t matter. If Oikawa believed it, then he would stay. If he could keep those eyes on him and that voice in his life, he would say anything.

Oikawa opened his mouth, then closed it again, looking up at the ceiling. For a moment, he shut his eyes completely, then focused on Iwaizumi. “Are you sure that's what you want? You don’t want to talk about it at all?”

Iwaizumi nodded. There was nothing else he could do, and he didn’t trust himself to speak. He would never forget that moment-- it was playing on repeat over and over in his head-- so they didn’t need to talk about it any longer. Then maybe Oikawa wouldn’t hate him.

“Okay,” Oikawa said slowly. “Then it never happened.”

For a moment they only stared at each other. Oikawa’s face revealed nothing, smooth and unmoving, so Iwaizumi turned away, walking towards the exit, just the same as before. Only this time, Oikawa walked next to him. Somehow, it was better. It wouldn’t be easy to just forget this night--one of the best moments turned to one of the worst--but he could do it. As long as it meant they could still be friends.

“Did you know that there are aliens on Earth right now?” Oikawa’s voice broke through their silent walk, as loud and energetic as normal. “Global governments are keeping it secret because if they release the information it will cause panic to the public.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

“It’s true! There’s articles on it and everything.”

“Only an idiot would believe everything that they read on the internet.”

“Now that was mean, Iwa-chan.”

They continued bickering as they waited for a cab, and Iwaizumi let out a small sigh of relief once it came. It was normal. They argued just like normal, talked like normal, made fun of each other like normal. A small voice in the back of his head disagreed, but he adamantly ignored it. Everything had to be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter makes me sadddd but it'll all be okay. One more chapter!!! hopefully I'll have it done by next week, and then this fic will be complete!! I'm super excited for you guys to see how it ends.
> 
> also, I'm planning on writing a sequel/partner to this fic, about the story from Oikawa's perspective. It'll be only a few chapters, but will follow kinda follow the same plot, just with a bunch of different events, characters, and of course seeing everything from Oikawa's pov. It will be able to be read alone, without reading this fic, but it will definitely have new content and hopefully be exciting either way. i'm super super excited about writing it, and i have tons of ideas, so im hoping you all will enjoy it as much as i will.
> 
> that was a lot whoops but as always let me know what you guys think, and thanks for reading!


	15. the end of the road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> final chapter here it is! i hope you enjoy!!!

“It doesn’t take that long to pack your things.”

“Yes, it does! I have to keep everything neat and organized. What if I have to go back for a callback?”

“Just go in with what you’re wearing now. This is excessive,” Iwaizumi complained, leaning against the door to Oikawa’s room. Somehow, during the one night they stayed in the city, he had managed to dump all of his suitcases, filling the room with everything he had brought with him.

Oikawa sat cross-legged on the ground, neatly folding his shirts and trousers together, but turned around at Iwaizumi’s comment. “You can’t be serious. What I'm wearing is going to be all wrinkly by the time I’m done. Impressions, Iwa-chan,” he said, snapping a finger towards Iwaizumi’s face, “are everything.”

He waggled his eyebrows, a smirk on his face, before turning back to his clothes. Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, but leaned further out the door, checking the hallway. It was not that he couldn’t be around Oikawa, but everything felt more on edge like he was aware of every little thing happening around him. Even worse, his head pounded from the drinking of the night before, a constant reminder of what happened.

By the time they arrived in their hotel rooms the night before, Iwaizumi was able to act like what he thought was normal, but he couldn’t get rid of the jumble of confusion that was his brain. They were normal, Oikawa wasn’t mad, they were acting like usual--everything was just as Iwaizumi wanted--but he just couldn’t forget the soft touch of Oikawa’s lips and the feel of his body against him.

It wasn’t practical, but it wasn't going away easily. He couldn’t forget what it was like to kiss Oikawa, and he couldn’t do anything about it. So instead, here he stood, acting as normal as he possibly could while staying as far away as possible. 

“Which shirt looks best for a callback?” Iwaizumi turned back towards the room to see Oikawa standing barely an arms length away, offering two shirts to him. He held up a navy blue one. “I think this one says 'sexy businessman who crushes his subordinates while taking his company to the top spot', while this one,” he raised the light blue one, “is 'hot young professor who gets along very well with his TA' if you know what I mean.”

Oikawa winked, but Iwaizumi ignored it. “The darker one,” he said before turning back towards the hallway. “And didn’t they say you wouldn’t need to come in again?”

“Yes, but I need to be ready on the off chance that they change their minds. You wouldn’t want me to not get the part just because you wanted to leave, would you?” Oikawa asked, zipping his suitcase shut.

“You’re going to get the part so it doesn’t matter,” Iwaizumi shot back, walking into the room and grabbing one of his bags. "I’m taking these down to the car, you can carry the others.”

They headed to the elevators, carrying their things out of the hotel and towards the car. Their entire time spent in Los Angeles was less than 24 hours, but so much had happened that it seemed just as long as the rest of the trip combined. At this point, the ride home didn’t matter. Iwaizumi just wanted to be back home in his theatre, with his friends, and his city. When he was there he didn’t get drunk and make stupid mistakes. It was lonely sometimes, but what did that matter. It was safe.

Breaking his thoughts, a phone began to ring, and Iwaizumi turned to Oikawa expectantly. For a moment, Oikawa froze, but relaxed after checking the caller id. “Don’t worry, it’s not them, just Daichi. I’m sure it’s something about last night.” He held up a hand, slowly jogging back towards the hotel with a slight smirk on his face. “I’ll just be a minute.”

Despite his limited experience with Daichi, Iwaizumi figured it would be a bit, so he pulled out his phone. At least five messages from Noya lit up the home screen and he grimaced. Right. Iwaizumi had promised to call him back the next day.

[Noya]: how are you doing?

[Noya]: did you talk to Oikawa?

[Noya]: call me

[Noya]: if he’s mad at you he’s a scum bag really

[Noya]: you said you’d call me why haven’t youuuuuu

[Noya]: iwaizumi i’m giving you 30 minutes and then im calling

Iwaizumi laughed. He could tell Noya was genuinely concerned, but the way he texted was so familiar and so Noya that he couldn’t help it. Either way, it made him feel better about the situation with Oikawa, so he wasn’t going to complain.

Before he passed Noya’s thirty-minute time limit, Iwaizumi decided to call him and get it out of the way. As the phone began to ring, he sighed slightly. Although the texts had cheered him up, he still wasn’t in the mood to be talking about what happened. Sure, Oikawa wasn’t mad at him, and their friendship was… relatively back to normal. But Iwaizumi was still in love. Stupid, hopeless love--more so than he had thought before kissing Oikawa last night. It was the kind that caused an ache in his chest every time Iwaizumi saw him, or the way he laughed, or how he cared so much about his clothes. It hurt, and talking about it wasn’t about to make him feel better. He just wanted to forget.

The ringing cut off abruptly as Noya’s loud voice broke through the speaker. “Finally you call me back. Ya know, when someone promises to call the next day after heavy drinking and a night like you had, that means in the morning. Early. Not wandering around doing who knows what while their friend is worried sick!”

“I’m sorry Noya, I should’ve responded earlier,” Iwaizumi sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “We decided to leave today, so I’ve spent most of the morning getting ready and checking the car and everything. It’s no excuse, but it distracted me until now.”

There was a beat of silence before he replied. “Does this mean you two are talking? Normally?”  
Iwaizumi heard the apprehension in Noya’s voice and sighed again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that recently. “Yes. We talked last night after I got off the phone with you. I just told him I wanted to forget about it and he agreed. So it’s going to be fine.”

“Iwaizumi, that sounds like the opposite of fine. There is nothing healthy about it. For you or for him.”

“I understand that, but I’d rather have it like this than deal with his disgust if we talked about it. It doesn’t matter if it’s not healthy for me, it’s better than the alternative.”

“You don’t know he would be like that. If you didn’t give him a chance to say anything else, then how would you know? Talking about it could help,” Noya’s voice sounded firm throughout the phone, without a hint of hesitation. He made sense, but it still wasn’t something Iwaizumi wanted to deal with. Not yet.

Iwaizumi looked up, watching Oikawa talk on the phone near the building. He was talking animatedly, moving his hands and smiling even though he was talking through the phone, and Iwaizumi felt a deep pang in his chest. That idiot. Talking might make him feel better, but not at the cost of no longer being able to see him. “I know. You’re right. Just… I’m going to give it a few days. Then we’ll talk. I don’t want this drive to turn into something terribly awkward for him, so I’ll wait.”

By the hotel, Iwaizumi saw Oikawa hang up the phone and start to walk over, so he turned around, obscuring his face from view. “Sorry, Noya, but I have to go. Thank you for all the help, and looking out for me, but I’ll be okay. I’ll text you, and I’ll see you when we get back.”  
“Alright. See you then,” Noya replied, still sounding restless, but Iwaizumi hung up anyway. He’d worry about it later.

Turning back around, he looked over to Oikawa, raising his eyebrows. “Well? What did Daichi want.”

“He just wanted to let us know not to stick around.” At Iwaizumi’s confused expression, Oikawa elaborated, walking to the passenger side door. “Apparently, a little birdy informed him there wouldn’t be any callbacks at all, and they’d call sometime today or tomorrow with the final decisions. So we might as well start driving. It won’t make a difference if I get the news here or on the road. You shouldn’t have to stick around for no reason even if it did.”

“You know it wouldn’t be a problem if you did have to stay. It wouldn't be a bother to me,” Iwaizumi said, pulling open the door and climbing in.

Oikawa smiled. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. It doesn’t matter either way, because they said we could go. I’ll admit, I’m ready to be back home.”

Sighing, Iwaizumi shifted into reverse, pulling out the car to start their drive. “I couldn’t agree more.”

*****

Yawning, Iwaizumi climbed out of the car, stretching his arms above his head as he looked around. They had been driving all day, with a few stops for food and to switch driving, and had finally decided to stop at a motel a few hours after it got dark. Iwaizumi was exhausted. Overall, the drive had been fine, but he was sure he wasn’t the only one who could feel the slight tension between them. It wasn’t that noticeable, but he could feel it in the longer than normal silences, or the awkward pause after making a particularly teasing comment. At least the pounding in his head had subsided after a few hours and a cup of coffee.

He still had a good time, especially when they spent time talking about their friends and their years in high school, but he knew now more than ever that he needed to be alone. Once they got back, he was going to give Oikawa an extra day off from the show, just enough to get Iwaizumi back into the swing of things--life without Oikawa's constant presence.

“Iwaizumi.” He turned at the sound of his name, another yawn dying in his mouth. Oikawa stood behind him, staring at his phone. Slowly, he looked up and Iwaizumi’s eyes widened. Oikawa barely moved, his mouth slightly open, and they both watched as his phone began to ring.

For a moment, they both stood there, staring at the phone. Iwaizumi wasn’t surprised about the call, just the way Oikawa reacted to it. Confidence was built into everything Oikawa was--even after seeing Oikawa like this, standing before him, he couldn’t quite comprehend a nervous Oikawa. Still, he quickly shook it off and walked forward. Oikawa had a reason to be like this, but he had no excuse. “Answer it you idiot. It’s going to be fine.”

Before he could regret it, he reached up, resting a hand on Oikawa’s arm. He knew he shouldn’t push their relationship any further than he already had, but he couldn’t help it. It seemed to get Oikawa back to normal as he nodded, slapping on a grin, and heading towards the motel. “This will only take a moment,” he called back as he walked away, and Iwaizumi nodded. As he walked, his entire posture changed, transforming into the confident figure Iwaizumi recognized from on stage. Iwaizumi smiled. He’d be fine.

Walking to the back of the car, Iwaizumi popped the trunk, pulling out their bags. He figured Oikawa should focus on his call, so he piled up all their suitcases. It was a struggle, with several slung over his shoulders, while balancing another precariously at his side, but he managed to shut the trunk behind him. At this point, he had become used to staying at motels, so it only took a moment for him to locate the front desk. He began walking towards it, but before he could go more than a few steps, he paused, noticing Oikawa standing towards the edge of the entrance, his phone in his hand. Apparently taking all the suitcases out of the car had taken longer than he thought if Oikawa had already finished his call.

Switching directions, he walked over to Oikawa, a small smile ghosting his face. He knew Oikawa would get the part, but he could tell Oikawa hadn’t felt the same. It must be reassuring to finally get the call confirming his position.

“How’d it go? I’m not surprised they called you today instead of waiting, they must’ve loved you,” Iwaizumi said, as Oikawa stood next to the wall, staring at his phone.

Slowly he looked up, and Iwaizumi’s smile dropped. The dim lighting of the motel left half of his face in shadow, but Iwaizumi could see his eyes as he looked over to him, wide and confused. “I didn’t get the part, Iwa-chan,” he said, his posture stiffening. “I don’t know why I didn’t expect it, it makes sense why this would happen but--”

“No.” Oikawa looked straight at him in surprise. Iwaizumi himself was almost as surprised by the sudden outburst, but he continued. “You’re wrong. I don’t care what those directors said to you, but they’re just wrong. You are one of the best actors I’ve ever seen in my career, and I don’t say that lightly. Whatever these directors are trying to make, it must be shit if they’re dumb enough not to cast you. Don’t bring yourself down and say you deserve this just because they can’t realize your talent.”

“Iwaizumi, it’s okay,” Oikawa said, stepping closer, but Iwaizumi wasn’t done.

“No! It’s not okay. You’re the one on stage, so you don’t get to see, but I do. I see everything. They way the audience can’t tear their eyes away when you step onto the stage, lighting up the entire show. Every single actor is lucky to be in a scene with you, because you can’t help but make them better too, and everyone knows it!” Iwaizumi knew it wasn’t his place, knew he should stop, but he couldn’t. Not about this. “You’re always beautiful, but when you’re on stage you take everyone’s breath away with the way you move. I count myself lucky as a director to have you on my show, and every single person feels the same. If they don’t see that, then they don’t deserve to have you acting for them in the first place.”

For a moment, it was quiet as they stared at each other, only the sound of cicadas echoing between them. Oikawa looked shocked, and Iwaizumi could feel the tips of his ears redden as his anger began to fade into awareness of what he had done. He opened his mouth to say something, anything to cover up his outburst. Then Oikawa began to laugh. Throwing his head back, his laugh echoed through the square, louder than Iwaizumi had ever heard before.

When he finally stopped laughing, he looked back over, a smirk on his face, and Iwaizumi realized sometime while he talked Oikawa had moved to only a few feet apart. His eyes glowed under the mix of the hotel lamps and the moon shining down on them, his joy visible. “Oh Iwa-chan,” he said, his smirk softening to a smile as he stepped even closer, until they were mere inches apart, “you stupid, stupid man.”

Iwaizumi didn’t know what to do, couldn’t think, couldn’t speak, couldn’t do anything, even as he slowly dropped their suitcases to the ground. As if it was the most natural thing in the world, Oikawa reached up, holding Iwaizumi’s face with both hands, before flicking his eyes downwards to his lips. Before Iwaizumi could say anything, they were kissing.

Whatever he thought last night had been, it was nothing compared to now. Oikawa’s lips moved against his slowly at first, hesitant as if to test his reaction, but Iwaizumi would have none of that. Grabbing Oikawa around the waist, he pulled them even closer together, responding eagerly. Each movement of their lips sent waves of energy flowing through his body, and finally, everything felt right. The kiss was soft and slow, but Iwaizumi could feel his heart racing, threatening to pound out of his chest.

Iwaizumi didn’t know why Oikawa chose now to kiss him, or what this meant, but he wasn’t going to let himself think about it. He just wanted this, whatever it was. This meant, at least partially, Oikawa wanted him. Oikawa saw him. That was more than enough. He began to slowly smile into the kiss, unable to hold back, but the movement caused Oikawa to draw back slowly, leaning away.

They still stood close, but Oikawa pulled his arms away, causing Iwaizumi to follow suit, as he watched Oikawa. He stood silent, refusing to speak first. Oikawa was the one to start this, and he wasn’t about to ruin it like he always did. Slowly Oikawa took a deep breath before looking up at him once again. “I’m sorry I froze yesterday but I'm not waiting any longer for my chance. I know you were drunk last night, and you didn’t mean to kiss me. It was just the heat of the moment so you want to forget about it but I can’t. But I can’t just forget. Hajime,” he said, the sound of his first name on Oikawa’s lip causing him to gasp, “I’m in love with you, and I can't just forget it.”

For a moment, Iwaizumi just stared at him. Oikawa's eyes moved constantly, avoiding his eyes. He looked more vulnerable than Iwaizumi had ever seen, and it snapped something inside of him. “You’re the stupid one, Oikawa. Last night wasn’t a mistake at all, I've been wanting to do it for months. I’m the one who's in love with you, you idiot,” Iwaizumi said, before kissing him again.

This time Iwaizumi held nothing back, the sound of his given name and Oikawa’s confession burning throughout his body. Walking Oikawa back against the wall of the motel, he kissed Oikawa hard, as if to convey all the emotions he had held back for longer than he even realized. After a few moments, he flicked out a tongue, teasing against Oikawa’s lips. Without hesitation, Oikawa opened his mouth to Iwaizumi, and he moaned at the feel of Oikawa’s tongue against his. He could taste the blueberry muffin Oikawa had insisted on buying earlier, although they had eaten dinner only an hour before, the sweetness of the fruit somehow perfect for Oikawa. 

The deepening of the kiss lit a fire beneath both of them, and they began to move more eagerly. Whereas their first kiss had been sweet and tentative, this was hunger and desperate need, as if each day, week, and month of working together constantly had only added fuel to them. Oikawa slid a hand up Iwaizumi’s shirt, trailing heat across his chest, and Iwaizumi could feel himself grow harder with every touch.

In the back of his mind, he remembered they were still out in public, despite the late hour. Still, he wasn’t willing to stop just yet, but Oikawa’s hands were making it increasingly difficult to restrain himself. Without warning, he reached down, grabbing Oikawa’s wrists and pinning them against the wall next to his head. Iwaizumi made sure to keep his grip loose enough that Oikawa could pull away if he wanted to, but he seemed perfectly content, moaning at the display.

Without hands, their lips seemed all the more desperate for each other, moving almost sloppily. Regardless, Oikawa was an incredible kisser, a fact that somehow didn’t come as a surprise to him, but Iwaizumi had years of practice of his own. Oikawa made a small whine as Iwaizumi pulled his lips away, before trailing kisses across his jaw. Iwaizumi needed a break from Oikawa’s teasing hands, but he wasn’t about to offer the same courtesy back.

Slowly Iwaizumi moved down his neck, dropping a hand so he could tilt Oikawa’s head, seeking better access. When Iwaizumi reached a spot just below his ear Oikawa moaned loudly, using his free hand to run through Iwaizumi’s hair, gripping it between his fingers. Iwaizumi hadn't realized how much the sound of Oikawa--the unfazed, confident Oikawa--falling apart would turn him on, but now he just wanted to hear that noise, again and again.

“Not fair,” Oikawa groaned, before freeing his other hand, using it to pull Iwaizumi’s mouth back to his. He kissed him deeply, and Iwaizumi couldn’t help but wonder what they had been thinking. They could’ve been doing this for ages if they hadn’t been so worried about what would happen, but it was clear in this kiss how much they wanted each other. It was perfect.

Before they could go any further, Oikawa leaned away, tilting his head to the side and looking in the distance. Iwaizumi narrowed his eyes, annoyed at the clear lack of attention he was now getting. After a few moments, he made a deep noise in the back of his throat, before leaning in to kiss Oikawa again. He had waited this long, he wasn’t about to sit around wasting any more time, but Oikawa laughed, pulling away again. “I think I hear someone coming,” he whispered, and Iwaizumi jerked back, eyes wide. 

Sure enough, within a few seconds, a motel worker turned the corner by the entrance, rounding towards the sidewall that they were on. Luckily, Iwaizumi leaned down in time, picking up their bags as if he had just dropped them. The worker looked at them, narrowing his eyes. “You two doing alright there?”

“Oh yes,” Oikawa said, running a hand through his hair sheepishly. “My friend here dropped our bags on his foot, and made a loud noise. He’s quite clumsy, this one,” he patted Iwaizumi on the back. Of course, he had to be the clumsy one.

Turning towards the worker, he nodded, hoping he looked put together and not like he had just been making out against a wall. “Yes, I’m sorry for the disturbance. We were actually hoping we could get two rooms for the night, if at all possible.”

The worker stared at them for a moment before shrugging, seeming to accept their story. “We get busy on Fridays, so I only got one room for you gentleman. Would that work for y’all?”

Attempting to hold back a reaction Iwaizumi nodded, and the worker smiled. “I’ll get set up at the front desk for you two, if you want to follow behind with the luggage.”

He turned around, rounding the corner just as Oikawa began to snicker, unable to contain his amusement. Iwaizumi turned to him, raising an eyebrow. “It’s really not that funny. I’m sure this happens all the time to people. Normal people.”

Oikawa couldn’t even respond, just bent over, laughing even harder. For a moment, Iwaizumi just watched him, a smile on his face, but the laughter reminded him of what started this and he frowned. “Oikawa, I didn’t mean to take away from what happened.”

“What are you talking about?” Oikawa asked, finally pulling himself back into standing position.  
Iwaizumi shrugged. “That you didn’t get the part. I'm happy now, but I know I should still be angry for you. I’m sorry about that.”

“Well there’s no need to be that upset, I’ll still be in the movie.”

Iwaizumi froze. “What do you mean you’re still going to be in the movie? You told me you didn’t get the part. And you acted like you deserved that. I gave a whole rant about it. Do you not remember this?”

Freezing, Oikawa scratched the back of his head. “I thought I mentioned it. I didn’t get cast as the lead, which was the part I was going for. They said I fit the role of the villain better, which is fine by me. It was just a little surprising when they first told me, especially after hearing the other casting decisions, but I'm actually happy about it.” He grinned, an almost maniacally gleam in his eyes. “I have just as much screen time as the lead, and everyone loves a good villain. This way I get to torture the lead as well.”

That last part didn’t make much sense to him, but he shook his head. “So you’re saying that I gave that whole speech about how great of an actor you are to cheer you up, and you didn’t even need it?”

Oikawa nodded slowly before yelping as Iwaizumi reached over and hit him. “You’re a shitty person Oikawa. A damn good actor, but a really shitty person.”

Leaning closer, Oikawa kissed him quickly before leaning down to pick up the bags. “And somehow, you love that about me.”

Iwaizumi knew he was teasing, but he could hear an air of wonder in his voice, and any annoyance he still had drifted away. Instead, a smile slipped it’s way onto his face before he could help himself, and he leaned down pulling Oikawa’s face to him and kissing him deeply. When he pulled away, Oikawa looked flustered, his cheeks flushed and eyes bright.

“Yes,” Iwaizumi said. “I do.”

*******

“Where does this box go?” Noya shouted from the door of Iwaizumi’s apartment. He had two boxes stacked up in his arms, towering over his short frame. Offering up the boxes to Iwaizumi he shook his head. “I think this is a box of clothes and dishes or something but I can’t really tell.”  
Before Iwaizumi could answer, a sarcastic voice behind him cut in. “I’m sure it goes the same place all the other boxes have been going-- the moving truck.”

Iwaizumi turned to see Oikawa perched on a stack of boxes, his legs crossed as he scrolled through his phone. As if he could feel Iwaizumi’s gaze, he looked up raising his eyebrows innocently. “What? I’m just trying to be nice and help out, that’s all.”

“That’d be a lot more believable if you had done anything to help pack instead of just sitting there the whole morning,” Iwaizumi countered, throwing an unpacked pillow at him. Unfortunately, he reacted in time, smacking the pillow away before it hit him.

“I had to pack my apartment all morning, I’m tired,” he whined, hopping off of the boxes. “Why should I do more?”

Iwaizumi just stared at him for a moment before speaking. “You realize I was the one who packed most of your apartment, idiot.”

“And what a good boyfriend you are for doing so,” Oikawa said, but picked up a box anyways, walking towards Iwaizumi. He stopped next to him, leaning over to whisper in his ear. “What can I say? You should see yourself carrying those boxes from my spot over there, it’s quite a view.”

Shoving him away, Iwaizumi rolled his eyes but was unable to stop a light blush from dusting his cheeks. “Sounds like an excuse to be lazy to me.”

Oikawa just laughed, walking towards the door, and Iwaizumi watched him go, a smile on his face. It had been about five months since that night at the motel, but somehow it had felt so much shorter. When they got back, not much was different--they both still spent most of their time at the theatre together, working on their show--with just a lot more kissing and more nights together than apart. Everything he had wanted to happen, everything he dreamed of but thought he could never get, he now had.

Ever since visiting Los Angeles, they had both made several return trips--Iwaizumi to meet with Sugawara to discuss progress on the movie, and Oikawa to meet with other cast members and the director for run-throughs before filming began. Now that the show had finally finished, they were both moving across the country. Despite his excitement, there was still a hint of nervousness about moving. He had spent his whole career in this city, and soon he’d be alone in a new place, with only a few friends that he knew.

Oikawa walked back through the apartment door, chatting animatedly with Noya, and Iwaizumi smiled. Not completely alone. About a month earlier Iwaizumi had asked Oikawa to move in with him in the new city, and Oikawa had agreed, of course. Almost as exciting as working on the movie would be finally living with him. He spent most nights in Iwaizumi’s apartment anyways, but there was something more permanent about buying a home together that sent a flutter through Iwaizumi’s chest every time he thought about it.

Noticing his gaze, Oikawa stopped talking and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Nothing,” Iwaizumi said, nodding towards the rest of the boxes. “Let’s just finish this up.”

They spent the rest of the morning packing up the final boxes into the truck until his apartment was empty. An hour before they finished, Kuroo and Kenma stopped by to help finish packing, and say goodbye. As exciting as it was to move, he’d miss his friends more than anything and still hadn't prepared himself for being apart.

“How can you leave me with these idiots,” Kuroo shouted as they put in the final boxes. “I need someone sane around here.”

Kenma raised an eyebrow, brushing his hair out of his face. “I think I’m the one who should be saying that.”

“Kenma’s right,” Iwaizumi agreed, “You and Noya are a mess to be around and you know it.”  
“That doesn’t mean you have to say it out loud!” Noya cried, jumping out of the truck and onto the street.

Oikawa shrugged. “You should be more worried about not having Iwa-chan to keep you in line during the show anymore.”

Reaching out to shove him, Kuroo frowned. “And who’s fault is that pretty boy? Yours.”

They continued bickering as Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, closing the back of the truck with Kenma’s help. Since neither he nor Oikawa knew how to drive a truck of this size, they had hired a moving company to take it at noon, opting to pack themselves, and Iwaizumi was glad they had. Spending the day with Oikawa and his other friends was the perfect way to leave the city, and he couldn’t imagine it any other way.

One hour, and many tears later, the others had left and the truck had been picked up, leaving them with a suitcase each and Iwaizumi’s car. They could’ve flown for this trip, but they decided to drive considering it was this same drive that caused them to finally got together. Iwaizumi opened the door, sliding into the seat. As always, Oikawa sat next to him, sunglasses sitting atop his head of curly hair. With the sun shining through the window onto his face, he looked just as he had during their road trip. Smirking Oikawa ran a hand through his hair as if he knew exactly what Iwaizumi was thinking. 

“Oh shut up,” Iwaizumi said and started the car, the sound of air conditioning filling the space.  
Oikawa simply smiled--a real smile, the kind that had become more and more frequent during their time together--leaning over to kiss him. He pulled away slightly, making eye contact. “I don’t know what you mean, I didn’t even say anything.”

Iwaizumi shook his head with a smile as Oikawa began to tell him a story from during the show, and began to drive. He didn’t care about how long it would take, or what kind of mishaps would happen on their drive--as there was sure to be plenty. It didn’t matter because this time they were both done acting. This time they were together in all senses of the word, and Iwaizumi knew he wasn’t going to let go anytime soon. Whatever happened in LA, however, the movie went for each of them it would be fine. They were together, and that was all that mattered to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's a wrap!! i can't believe this fic is over, and i hope you guys enjoyed it! please leave a comment letting me know about it because i loved writing this fic, and i hope y'all enjoyed reading it!
> 
> in other news i WILL be starting a new fic in august that covers Oikawa's perspective. It will most likely be fewer chapters, but it's going to cover a LOT of new things that I'm really excited for, as well as answering a few questions you may still have about this fic and what happens next. I really hope if you got it this far that you check it out.
> 
> and a final thank you for everyone who read this, i literally reread the comments you guys gave sooo many times to keep me inspired, so thanks again!! y'all are the best.
> 
> EDIT: hi again!! for everyone reading this later, I will most likely not be creating a separate perspective for oikawa, simply because i have too many other stories in mind. that being said, i am thinking of adding additional chapters as an epilogue/rewrite from different perspectives. lmk what you think!


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